Don’t be stuck

Don’t Be Stuck

This is so much harder to do than it sounds. So let me be perfectly clear with what I mean by don’t be stuck. The title of this post is Don’t Be Stuck, meaning that you cannot allow yourself to accept that your life is mediocre.

1. Do you want to see your children more?
2. Do you want more free time?
3. Do you want to finish your degree/get one?
4. Do you want to get an animal that needs your time and attention?
5. Are you happy with where you are?
6. Are you always wanting something but feel you’ll never get it?

These are some of the problems I’m talking about. We live in a society that has opportunity everywhere, you are limited only by what you  limit yourself to. I know this all too well, I’ve spent the last 5 or so years just struggling to get/keep a day to day job that I know I won’t keep for more than a few months, maybe a year or two.  I continued to do this because I felt that there were no other options out there. I pressed myself to the floor mentally getting impossibly stressed with my financial situation. I was qualified, I was willing, why couldn’t I make enough? How was I going to pay the next set of bills that more than doubled my paycheck? There was no way that I was going to survive on the jobs I was getting.

I knew that something needed to change, I knew that I needed to get into a better place. But I couldn’t see past the retail jobs, the factory jobs, or the miscellaneous jobs that are typically advertised.  I was stuck, I was stuck in a tar pit so deep that I didn’t even know how or when it happened. For the longest time, I didn’t even know that I was. Which is I’m sure, the same place that most people are in these days. Its difficult to be able to tell yourself that you’re worth more than the bare bone minimum, its hard to say that your services are more valuable than the other person’s. Not for everyone, but for plenty it is. Myself included.

Alright, you’ve talked enough about not being stuck and you being stuck. What do I do?

So, how do you stop being stuck? Tacky as it sounds, you need to choose to stop being stop. You’ve read this far, and if you’re serious about wanting to be in a better place you’ve taken a moment and thought about some things that make you feel like you’re not in a place you want to be. You want to be better, you want to stop being so stressed and you’d like to just overall be in a better place.

I have news for you: You can do it. If you want to.

Strange to say, isn’t it? If you want to. Of course I want to, why wouldn’t I? Typically we’d assume that everyone wants to be better, and we do I believe. But there is a deep part of us that finds it difficult to move forward once we’ve gotten stuck. Much like a vehicle’s tire getting stuck in the mud. Its really easy to get there, but very difficult to get out once you’re in there comfortably.

Oh, this is where you actually suggest something. Thanks.

So like I said, you must first choose to stop being stuck. Simple, and one of the most difficult things to do. As are all things that involve having to simply choose to change something. Changing habits are not easy, but it is possible. I’ve read various suggestions for how to assist in this process by logging in a journal or otherwise some of the habits that you believe are bad and making a conscious effort to cease. I agree with this, and suggest something of my own to that as well. Whether you opt to take note of your bad habits literally, you’ve at least given some thought and likely retained the bad habits that you’d like to be rid of the most. But coming from someone who has an extremely addictive personality you can’t JUST  get rid of a bad habit, especially the ones that are deeply rooted in your day to day motions.

To change something about yourself that you do frequently or unintentionally you have to be able to replace those bad habits with good habits. To simply rid yourself of bad habits and not think about what you’d like to do instead is only going to cause problems. You’ll have this large void in your life, and I’d like to believe that I can help you a bit here. Don’t let that void transform into a new set of bad habits, using a deadly sin to make my point, don’t be sloth. Sloth may not be as bad as your other bad habits, at least, it wouldn’t be right away. But once you’ve settled into doing as little as is live-ably possible, that is an even harder bad habit to break than many others.

Alright, I’ve evaluated my negative goings on, I’ve chosen to move forward and make a conscious effort to either stop or severely lessen them immediately. Now I have nothing to do, my life feels empty without my negative comforts if they can so be called.

That right there above in bold is what I reference. Its an easy problem to put yourself into, so easy in fact you’ll probably do it before you realize it. So take my advice here: Have some sort of idea of what you’d like to do next!

Here are some suggestions, they’re not specific to your situation though, so obviously some of these may be entirely wrong for YOU. Feel free to drop me an email/comment if you’d like some other ideas. I’d love to be of  assistance if I can!

• Play a game, not a big deal one. But maybe with some friends. Something to get you moving! Release those endorphins!

1. Golf
2. Basketball
3. Tennis
4. Soccer
5. Baseball
6. Pool
7. Nature jogs

• Take photos (Your life/Nature/Animals/Anything you like to see)
• Listen to some NEW (To you.) music.
• Relax outside, don’t be in such a rush all the time. Life is full of beautiful little things nobody sees and yet surround us always.
• Know yourself, take some time to be introspective
• Go after that career goal you never thought you’d be able to get
• Write that book/story/post/letter you’ve been meaning to
• Play those silly games with your children/pets
• Build a birdhouse
• Take a class about something you’d like to learn. (Cooking/Mechanics/Glass Molding/Photography/Etc)

This list could go on forever, and for you perhaps it shall! You are only limited by what you yourself limit. Some things in life will be more easily obtained than others, all are equally worth your effort if that is what you want to do.

Be kind, and be nice to a stranger today.

Game Testing

Game Testing

If you’re looking at this post, you’re probably trying to find some really easy way to get into Game Testing. But, you also know that it doesn’t work that way. The truth of the matter is, its a ridiculously over saturated market. I’ve gone to a great deal of websites claiming to guarantee you jobs, they all promise upwards of 70,000 or at least very close to that. Further, many of those sites will also tell you that the jobs are “SO EASY.” You’ll be making money to play games in no time! Etc etc. If you believe those sites, then you shouldn’t be a game tester.

When you stop to think about it, and when you start doing some real research, its easy to find that getting into game studios that need game testers, is very difficult! But, better than that. Almost everyone that is looking for a game tester isn’t actually looking for a long term game tester. Typically, places are searching for someone with game backgrounds, computer degrees, gaming degrees, and all sorts of other technical knowledge showing you know your trade. It is a profession, but the Game Tester (Typically known as Quality Assurance) is the entry level position as well. So, if you’re just hoping to get a quick easy job as a Game Tester, you will not find that. If you just want to get new games early, try and sign up for a Beta. You’ll earn the same amount of money doing that as you would hoping to get a job as a Game Tester and only hope for the future is to be a Game Tester. That amount of money by the way, is nothing.

This post is not to discourage you.

To be a game tester, you have to be willing to:

• Work, work, and more work. Quality Assurance Testers can work anywhere from 10 hours-70 hours a week.
• Be prepared for minimal notice regarding your work week
• Be prepared to learn everything you can to be more productive
• Your job is to break the game, and write it great detail how you broke the game
• Learn about what is broken to better communicate with designers
• Be prepared to pursue a Game designer career if you are looking for a career
• Learn everything about any company that responds to your requests for interview
• Go the distance. This means, apply anywhere you CAN go.
• Learn about the type of games the places you apply to release, can you test those games well?

There are many things to learn about going after Quality Assurance Tester positions, and I’m sure I’ll come back to the matter later in more detail. Its not an easy job to get, you have a lot of competition and most importantly, it is definitely one of those jobs that you need to have already had to get a new one. You must talk yourself up to get these jobs, don’t lie. But be honest, are you weirdly OCD and notice every tiny  detail? Put it on your QA Tester resume.

Be kind, be nice to a stranger today.