10K HP Step 1: Choose Your Game — Find Your Life’s Mission Contact Me
10K HP Step 1: Choose Your Game — Find Your Life’s Mission

10K HP Step 1: Choose Your Game — Find Your Life’s Mission

Most people spend decades climbing ladders that are leaning against the wrong wall. They optimize their resumes, collect credentials, and chase promotions — only to realize at 50 that none of it connected to anything they cared about.

This is Step 1 of the 10,000 Hours of Play (10K HP) framework by Yu-kai Chou. Before you build skills, find allies, or embark on quests, you need to answer one question: What game are you playing?

About Yu-kai Chou

Yu-kai Chou is a Human-Systems Architect & Behavioral Designer whose work has impacted over 1.5 Billion Users worldwide through work with LEGO, Microsoft, Porsche, Coca-Cola, Salesforce, and MrBeast.

He has taught and lectured at Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Tesla, Google, BCG, and IDEO.

His books have been referenced by Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Wired, US Department of Energy, NIST, NSF, NCBI, US Department of Education, Academia.edu, and 3,700+ more. Check out Books by Chou here.

“If you don’t know where you want to go, then it doesn’t matter which path you take.” — Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” — Bill Copeland

As you begin your 10K HP journey, the first step in embracing a life of play is selecting the right game with which to engage.

As Simon Sinek wrote in his book, Start With Why, the purpose of why we live our lives dictates how we live our lives and what we choose to do.

The life game you choose to play will end up determining your relevant attributes (Step 2), your appropriate roles (Step 3), the skills you need to learn (Step 4), the allies you need to connect with (Step 5), and the quest you need to take (Step 6).

In the gaming world, there is a wide variety of video game genres, such as RPGs, fighting games, puzzle games, first-person shooters, platformers, racing, party games, and many more.

Personally, I really enjoy multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games such as Heroes of the Storm or League of Legends, strategy games such as chess and Starcraft, and virtual reality games where I can get some exercise in at the same time as playing.

Others may be drawn to different genres, like fighting games (Street Fighter), casual puzzle games (Candy Crush), or action/adventure games (Metal Gear Solid).

In your 10K HP journey, the game you choose represents your life’s mission: the purpose of your existence and the reason you are here. It could become the best parent to your children, make humanity an interplanetary species, create emotionally moving music, or solve the homeless crisis in San Francisco.

While many people focus on how to improve themselves and grow their abilities, it is important to first identify what your game is so you don’t grow aimlessly into someone incapable of tackling it at a high level.

Otherwise, you might spend your life doing something you are not passionate about and feel miserable every step of the way.

The NPC Trap: Living Someone Else’s Game

Without a clear vision of your game, you become a decorative NPC for other people’s games.

Bronnie Ware, an Australian palliative carer who spent years attending to patients during the final twelve weeks of their lives, documented their regrets and found a common pattern.

She later published a book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, which includes:

  1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
  2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
  3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
  4. I wish I stayed in touch with my friends.
  5. I wish I let myself be happier.

Look at these regrets. Every single one is about living as an NPC in someone else’s game rather than being the hero in their own.

They didn’t lack ability. They lacked a game worth playing.

My goal in 10K HP is to help you avoid having those five regrets.

Dr. Stuart Brown, the founder of the National Institute for Play, wrote the following in his book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul: “The opposite of Play is not work — it is depression.”

When you are a non-playable character, a life of depression and unfulfillment often follows. That’s why you must play as if your life depends on it.

Your Game Is Not Your Job

Your game is not the same as your occupation or industry (that would be covered in Step 3: Select Your Role). It’s not about becoming an accountant or a doctor, but rather the underlying motivation for pursuing that career — to save lives, to gain wealth, to achieve prestige.

At this point in the process, you should not pick a life game based on your natural talents or gifts, as that would come later in Step 2: Know Your Attributes.

Instead, pick a life game based on your passion and aspirations. If you are doing something that aligns with those, you will much more likely enjoy spending more time playing the game, hence putting in those 10,000 hours to achieve mastery.

Even in the theoretical but more extreme case where you lack unique skills or talents, where you are only qualified to become a janitor and nothing else, passion still matters.

If you were passionate about music, I believe you would be much happier being a janitor for a music company than a truck company. If you had a passion for trucks, it would be the other way around.

So, first you identify your passion and purpose, decide on the game you want to play, and then the rest of the 10K HP steps will help you determine what roles (Step 3) you should play to thrive.

Keep in mind that your game doesn’t have to remain the same for the rest of your life. Still, it’s ideal to commit to a game for at least three to eight years.

The game shouldn’t be about “finishing law school and passing my bar exam” (that would be a major quest within Step 6 instead of your game). Rather, think about why you want to become a lawyer in the first place: Do you want to uphold social justice? Do you want to be respected by people? Or do you just want to make loads of cash?

Whatever your reason, it probably shouldn’t change too frequently, unless you have a whole epiphany about what your life’s purpose should be instead.

Of course, if you realize you’ve chosen the wrong game, don’t feel trapped. Pivot, apply the skills you’ve learned, rely on the allies you have met, and move on to your next game.

Also, your game doesn’t have to be as grandiose as Elon Musk’s. It doesn’t need to be something as big as taking humanity to Mars; it could be as simple as living a quiet, stress-free life with your pet. It also doesn’t have to be altruistic.

Dell Computer Corporation’s Founder Michael Dell, when pressed consistently why he started his business, finally responded with, “I wanted flags in front of my building.”

He saw having a whole building named after himself, with its own dedicated driveway decorated with flagpoles, as the epic achievement for the game he wanted to play in his life.

Wear Your Game Like a Badge

Once you know the game you are playing, I recommend sharing it with everyone you meet. Wear it like a badge of honor. There should be no one close to you who doesn’t know you are playing this game.

Wearing your game like a badge has many benefits:

  1. Make it real: Regularly talking about your game turns a private aspiration into a public commitment. People will hold you to it, and you’ll hold yourself to it.
  2. Gain respect: When people hear that you have grand goals, they often hold a higher respect for you. People tend to judge you not on where you are right now, but where your goals are. I’ve seen it many times myself, and I have shared examples in the book: 10,000 Hours of Play.
  3. Attract Allies: When people know what you stand for, they’re more likely to connect with you on a deeper level. You’ll attract like-minded individuals who can offer their talents, resources, and network to help you accomplish your game objectives.
  4. Set others in motion: Sharing your game can push others to pursue theirs. You become the example for those who might share your aspirations but haven’t found their strength or courage to go for it.

Consider the example of Monkey D. Luffy, the main protagonist from the iconic Japanese Manga and anime series One Piece.

Whenever Luffy meets new people, he would declare proudly, “I’m gonna become the King of the Pirates!” which in the world of One Piece means he would be the one individual above all.

Especially in the early sagas, Luffy was not particularly strong, and he faced many individuals who were much stronger than him who didn’t dare to dream of becoming King of the Pirates.

As expected, Luffy’s bold declaration was met with disbelief and mockery. But his persistence and repeated announcements quickly transformed that skepticism into respect. His boldness drew people to his cause, turning doubters into allies (Step 5) and companions.

What can we learn from Luffy?

His goal is crystal clear. There’s no ambiguity about what he wants to achieve. He repeats his mission at every opportunity, reinforcing his commitment to himself and others. And despite constant disbelief, his conviction never wavers. That’s the strength of committing fully to your game.

How Do You Find Your Game?

I know what you might be thinking: “But Yu-kai, I don’t know what my game is yet!” That’s okay. Most people don’t figure it out right away. Here are some quests to help you discover it:

1. Explore New Worlds
Try new things. Take classes, read books, volunteer, travel, talk to people from different backgrounds. Sometimes, you don’t know what excites you until you experience it firsthand.

2. Reflect on Your Motivations
Ask yourself not just what you want to do, but why you want to do it. Do you want to help people? Solve challenging problems? Create beautiful things? The “why” is often more important than the “what.”

3. Look for Flow
Think about the times when you’ve been so absorbed in an activity that you lost track of time. What were you doing? What skills were you using? These moments are clues to your game. (This connects to Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback in the Octalysis Framework.)

4. Start Small
You don’t have to commit to a lifelong mission right away. Start with a small quest: a project, a habit, a challenge. See how it feels. You can always pivot as you learn more about yourself.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Change
Your game can evolve over time. The important thing is to keep choosing, keep refining, and keep moving forward.

The Power of Choice

When you choose your game, everything changes. Suddenly, your actions have meaning. Your setbacks become learning experiences, not failures. Your achievements feel real, because they’re tied to something you care about.

You become the hero of your own story, not a side character in someone else’s.

Your First Quest

So here’s your first quest:

Take out a piece of paper (or open a new note on your phone) and write down your answers to these questions:

  • What activities make me feel alive?
  • What problems do I love solving?
  • Who do I admire, and why?
  • If I could become world-class at anything, what would it be?

Don’t worry if you don’t have perfect answers yet. The important thing is to start thinking about it. The more you reflect, the clearer your game will become.

Now Go Play

Choosing your game is Step 1 for a reason. Everything in the 10K HP framework builds on it: your attributes, your role, your skills, your allies, your quests. Without a game, you’re grinding XP with no purpose.

So pick a game. Wear it like a badge. And start putting in those hours.

You’ve got 10,000 of them to spend.

(Excerpt from “10,000 Hours of Play” by Yu-kai Chou)

Read the next article in the 10K HP series:

  1. 10,000 Hours of Play: Unlock Your Real-Life Legendary Success
  2. 10K HP Step 1: Choose Your Game (Mission) (You are here)
  3. 10K HP Step 2: Know Your Attributes (Talents)
  4. 10K HP Step 3: Select Your Role (Specialty)
  5. 10K HP Step 4: Enhance Your Skills (Craft)
  6. 10K HP Step 5: Build Your Alliance (Network)
  7. 10K HP Step 6: Achieve Your Quests (Milestones)

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