Because your primary quest will get lonely
A SMART focused goal that's written down is a powerful motivator.
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound all combine to make a goal that's a stretch but is also doable.
My primary goal for the next few months is to earn $100 through the Medium Partner Program in one calendar month before the end of August 2024.
That covers the SMART bases.
An analogy from pinball machines
I've played a lot of arcade games in my life.
The games back then just didn't have the memory to be very complicated.
If you can believe it, the file size for the arcade version of Pac-Man — arguably one of the most popular arcade games ever — took up only 24 kilobytes. (For reference, two blank Microsoft Word documents take up the same space! Things aren't made like they used to!)
What Pac-Man didn't have, though, some of the pinball machines did:
A mini-game.
This mini-game would be a small pinball machine within the pinball machine — with its own flippers, bumpers, noises, and bonuses if you did well on it. Some machines had glass on the main playing field that revealed the mini-game below it. Others had a raised platform at the top of the playing field right below the back display where the mini-game action took place.
Mini-games were something extra, and enhanced the gameplay by being integral to it.
My mini-game right now is YouTube
First and foremost, I'm writing on Medium. Learning how to do better, reach more people, garner interest, all that.
But I do have a YouTube channel that's as much part of the creator economy as my Medium writings.
If Medium is the game, then YouTube is the mini-game.
YouTube videos are the “something extra” that I'll work on alongside the main goal.
The mini game is just part of the game
For now, the main game is Medium. That's what I'm putting the quarter in to play. (Yeah, it used to be only a quarter. I'm old!)
The YouTube mini-game has its own goals, of course, but right now it's just part of the main game I'm playing.
And that's fine! Everything in its place.
Why your goals need a mini-game
The mini-game is part of the total score
Assuming the mini-game is worthwhile, success there contributes to your overall score.
As I work toward monetizing my YouTube channel, the income from that will be added to the income from Medium.
Or, how about a health-related mini-game? If the main game is losing weight, a mini-game might be getting high blood sugar under control to get off of Metformin.
The mini-game adds variety
I crave variety. Over the years, though, I've craved it so much, it's been to my detriment.
Having a limited number of mini-games (one or at most a few) keeps things manageable, but also provides the variety we often crave.
The mini-game keeps you focused on the main game
This may be counterintuitive. I'll explain.
With pinball, things are flying around, and you enter the mini-game. You switch gears and play the mini-game. Then the ball launches back into the main game and you're playing again.
Tonight, I did some Medium work, then recorded a YouTube short and uploaded it. I tried several thing doing this, and got some insights, which got me excited about writing something for Medium.
What's your main game? What's your mini-game?
Tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
Hi, I'm John and I encourage entrepreneurship in people, including myself.
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Photo by Heather McKean on Unsplash