“What gets measured gets improved.”
– Peter Drucker 5:01
I love playing games.
There’s a game called The Settlers of Catan.
It’s a totally nerdy, maybe even boring, game—but I love it!
My friends and I used to play it all the time, along with a lot of other games over the years.
So, when I found out I could gamify my personal finance, I was totally on board.
It makes it more fun and keeps goals in front of you.
You will be more engaged with the process of making money.
Gamifying aspects of your life has many positive benefits.
According to this literature review, it can even help your health and wellbeing.1
Tony Robbins talked a little about this in his book, Money: Master the Game.
He says mastering money requires mastering the game of money.
Today, we’re going to dive into what he means.
We’ll talk about three ways you can gamify your personal finances.
Let’s jump into it!
1. Setting Achievable Goals
How do you create a game out of finance?
The first thing, really, is to change your mindset.
This actually can be fun!
Too often, we think about the more boring parts of finance.
There’s a lot of bookkeeping and accounting and that can get very stiff very quickly.
Let’s take that part out of your mind for a while.
Start by setting goals.
You need achievable goals.
Where do you want to go?
Do you want to buy a house?
What’s the amount you want to have in your bank account?
If you have no goal, you have no target.
There’s nothing to work towards.
Having a specific goal can be super helpful.
Another helpful tip is to print out pictures of the things you want in your life.
That way, you can visualize what you’re looking for.
After you do that, you should create a timeline for yourself.
There’s this idea of smart goals.
You need specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound goals.
That’s a game!
If you play Monopoly, there are specific rules you need to follow.
That’s pretty similar to when you create a game for financial goals.
So, what are your goals?
How much income do you want per year?
How many deals do you want to get into?
What are the things that you’re going to actually do to get there?
2. Rewards and Milestones
The second thing you should have is rewards and milestones.
I often take a celebration trip when we close a deal.
I always try to celebrate the wins.
If you don’t like to travel, you should still take time for yourself.
Go out to dinner.
Get yourself a massage.
Do something for yourself to celebrate when you’re making progress.
If you don’t celebrate those things, you start to lose some of the joy of the journey.
Success is not just a destination, it’s the process.
It’s learning along the way.
The more you enjoy the process of playing the game, the more you’ll celebrate when you win.
When I was gearing up to quit my old job, I wanted to have more control of my time.
After I officially quit, I took a trip to Iceland.
Iceland is one of my favorite countries to visit.
Going there really helped me connect with that major milestone.
I encourage you to have rewards and milestones for when you achieve certain goals.
That way, you celebrate them.
Just like you would when you’re in a game.
If you win the game, how does that feel?
You’re excited!
Positive reinforcement can be a powerful tool.
According to this review, it can improve workers’ efficiency and effectiveness.2
Pick some exciting rewards for yourself and create fun incentives.
3. Tracking Progress
It’s important to track your progress.
When I have big financial goals, I make sure to read my goals daily.
That way, I can track how far along I am.
If you track your goals, you’ll pay attention.
I also encourage you to share what you’re doing with friends.
Find an accountability partner.
Don’t tell someone who doesn’t understand your goals.
Find a person who really resonates with what you want to do and talk to them about it.
You can help them with their goals as well.
It’s a great way for you both to make more progress towards your goals.
This doesn’t just work for personal finance, either.
I’ve seen it work for spiritual goals and fitness goals.
To sum up, make your personal finance a game.
Make it fun.
Finance doesn’t have to be boring.
It can be very exciting!
It comes down to making goals, tracking them, and celebrating the wins.
Even when you have challenges, remember that everything is learning.
I hoped this helped!
Now, I want to hear from you.
What financial goals are you going to achieve with this strategy?
Let us know in the comments.
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Disclaimer: I am not your investment advisor. This is for educational purposes only. I am not giving specific advice on what you can do. I am simply giving my opinions.
Works Cited
1. Daniel M. Johnson, Sebastian Deterding, Kerri-Ann Kuhn, Aleksandra Staneva, Stoyan R. Stoyanov and L. Hides. “Gamification for health and wellbeing: A systematic review of the literature.” Internet Interventions, 6 (2016): 89 – 106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2016.10.002.
2. L. Wei and R. Yazdanifard. “The impact of Positive Reinforcement on Employees’ Performance in Organizations.” American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 4 (2014): 9-12. https://doi.org/10.4236/AJIBM.2014.41002.
