Imagine creating a secret identity for yourself, and now you are strong and brave and unafraid. You are resourceful, ready to vanquish enemies. You are part of a worldwide tribe that energizes and supports you. You are doing things you never thought possible and feel exhilarated and challenged. You are mastering—not enduring—life! Sounds pretty good, right?
A few weeks ago, I was browsing the shelves at the public library and found Steve Kamb’s 2016 book Level Up your Life. The subtitle reads: How to Unlock Adventure and Happiness by Becoming the Hero of your Own Story. A book combining narrative and agency to help people reach their goals? He has my attention.
The cover depicts a comic book-style illustration of a man ripping off his business shirt and tie to reveal his (six-pack abs and his) superhero costume. Our hero is answering a call to action; someone, somewhere, is in distress. Kamb does not need to rescue us readers, however. He offers an adaptable blueprint so that we can save ourselves. With a little imagination and discipline, even the humblest of nerdy office drones can take charge of her life, break free from being ordinary, and join this Rebellion. And she can have a lot of fun while doing so.
Kamb, the founder of nerdfitness.com, is a self-proclaimed formerly “risk-averse, picky eating introvert who felt more at home in front of a computer than in public.” He was happy enough in his post-college job, but was vaguely dissatisfied. After moving cross-country for a more interesting, but lower-paying job, he realized that he was still wasting his evenings and weekends drinking and playing video games to numb himself from his uninspiring life. He wanted a challenge, so he began with getting fit.
Kamb recontextualized his fitness quest as a game: he developed an origin story, an alter ego identity, and a series of increasingly more difficult challenges (in video games, this is known as leveling up). Once he began to see actual results from his workouts, he decided to help other nerds do the same by using game theory. He put his own video games aside, and for the next 18 months, devoted that same energy to building an online community. Then, he applied his method to other areas of his life. He knew he was onto something.
What I love about this book is that it is not just one guy bragging about how cool his life is now, how he is traveled to blah blah countries and done blah blah cool things. He makes leveling up accessible, encouraging his readers to start small while challenging them to play on increasingly difficult levels. Because he is a nerd, Kamb sprinkles references to video games and fantasy and science fiction characters throughout the book. He also builds his hero’s journey on the work done by Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler. Each step has its own chapter.
The main character is somebody of normal existence who goes through a journey that fundamentally changes him or her as a character. This character learns from a mentor, skeptically accepts the call to leave a comfortable existence, faces trials and tribulations, makes allies and enemies, outsmart or wins over the guardians of the threshold, struggles to survive/succeed, transforms, and ultimately returns home with altered/improved outlook on life.
My biggest takeaway from this book is the cautionary tale of the South Park Underpants Gnomes. In the middle of the night, these little elves run around the fictional cartoon town, stealing people’s underpants. When asked why they are doing this, one replies, “Collecting underpants is just Phase 1!” When asked about Phase 2, the gnomes reply with, “Phase 3 is profit!” The gnomes never find out what Phase 2 is. Kamb’s message to his readers: stop mindlessly collecting underpants, or don’t consume yourself with busy work that doesn’t move you toward your goal. You have to take action in Phase 2, or you will just have a shit-ton of underpants and no profit.
This idea really hit home for me as I think back to my summer research project. In the beginning, I was obsessed with collecting all available information on my topic. I became a hoarder of articles and blog posts and books, and wasted hours organizing them into an indexed binder. I knew my goal was to write a paper, so why was I wasting my time? At one point, my advisor had to cut me off. She said, “That’s it! No new sources!”
Damnit, I thought. Now I am going to have to do some real work.
Even if you don’t pick up the book, I hope you have learned this from Kamb, from the makers of South Park, and from me: Don’t be an Underpants Gnome.
this gruntled worker 