Have you ever played The Sims? The game simulates a whole life—school, work, skill-building, family. Maybe it became a hit because it lets us live another version of life.
In the game each Sim only has so much time—roughly 60 years compressed into a real-world week. You have to choose how they spend it. If they want to become musicians, they might spend decades practising while still balancing family and fitness. Ignore those needs and they get sad, perform badly, and miss their goals.
You can create multiple Sims, each living a different life. On easy mode, Sims are agreeable: tell them to work out and they will; feed them normally and they’re happy. Anyone can become “perfect.” On hard mode, Sims are moodier: ask them to practise piano and they lose energy; bump into someone they dislike at a restaurant and the day is ruined.
Raising a Sim on hard mode forces you to pay attention and indulge them a little. But precisely because of that, when they succeed it feels far more satisfying than playing on easy.
Real life works the same way:
- Everyone goes through birth–aging–illness–death. When we’re gone, life continues, so what we can do is contribute something that leaves that continuation a bit better.
- Each person has a finite amount of time. To excel at one thing we sacrifice another. The key is choosing what to invest in and being at peace with that choice.
- Some people are playing life on easy mode, others on hard. Copying someone else’s settings won’t help.
I remind myself: maybe I’m on hard mode, so of course I feel temperamental. In 2025, even when FOMO spikes as I see people learning new things, I want to pause. Learn something new if it makes me happy and helps me grow—not because others have it so I must have it too.
Play your own game. Wishing you a brilliant run in 2025!