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Why Goal Setting is Important for Avid Gamers

Video games have become an increasingly popular pastime in recent years. Whether you game casually in your free time or enjoy grinding out boss fights, achievements, and milestones, there’s no denying that playing your favorite titles provides a sense of accomplishment.

In our previous “Play as An Adult” post, we highlighted the many benefits of play — especially adult play — including improvements to your mental health, social skills, optimism, well-being, and more. Aside from helping us develop better ideas and boosting confidence, playing is also great stress relief, improving your cognitive health, reducing your blood pressure, and more. As such, many real-life practices and disciplines often translate well into succeeding in video games. This includes the practice of goal setting.

Below, we’ll discuss why goal setting is an important discipline for avid gamers and how you can apply similar principles to your real-life goals:

The “grind mindset”

One of the most common disciplines among avid gamers is the “grind mindset”, often called the grindset. Popular first-person shooter title Call of Duty (CoD) recently released its latest installment, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. The CoD games throughout the years have been a prime avenue for gamers with the grind mindset. For example, the Call of Duty prestige system allows players to reach high levels and prestige, resetting their multiplayer progress so they can climb the ranks all over again. Once a player reaches prestige level 10, they can continue leveling to level 1000, which is a common goal among many hardcore CoD fans. Having goals and milestones in mind keeps players coming back and motivated to play and improve.

Another example of CoD’s avenue for the grindset is its competitive esports scene. Nowadays, fans of the franchise participate in Call of Duty betting on crypto betting platform Thunderpick to add another competitive layer to the esport by wagering on their favorite CoD teams and players. The Call of Duty esports scene is one of many popular esports communities today, with the annual official Call of Duty League seasons celebrating the highest-skilled professional players battling it out for significant prize pools. Additionally, each Call of Duty League season plays on the latest CoD installment released, so it makes sense that professional and casual CoD players are already grinding out the newly released game to acquire the highest ranks and weapons upgrades. Hardcore Call of Duty bettors are no strangers to the grindset, as they actively researching team and player stats and crunching the numbers to have the best odds.

Cultivating mindfulness

Aside from the “grind mindset,” another common trait among avid gamers is the ability to achieve flow state. The Daily Beast’s insights on flow state note that the concept has been around since Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi first described it in the 1970s. This is when an individual becomes completely lost in an activity — whether a video game, out running, or making art — and is entirely immersed in the present moment, accomplishing the activity without becoming bored, frustrated, or tired. Researchers have also noted over the years that the flow state has been associated with well-being outcomes, such as preventing burnout and depression.

Over the years, researchers have remained fascinated with this concept of the flow state. For some gamers, shooter titles like Call of Duty, Valorant, or Counter-Strike may refer to the flow state as an ideal state of mind, allowing players to aim much more effectively when in-game. Similarly, traditional athletes rely on reaching flow state to perform better. Recent interviews focusing on Olympic athletes’ mental states liken the flow state to being on autopilot, allowing people to perform tasks effortlessly without overthinking or getting anxious. This way, cultivating mindfulness is as common a practice for hardcore gamers as it is out of the game.

Creating accountability

Finally, another key component of goal setting and staying motivated to stick to your goals is creating a sense of accountability. While some gamers may excel at keeping themselves accountable solo, others may need the social push from other players. This is where multiplayer gaming comes in, where players can game—in real time—alongside other players from anywhere in the world. Studies over the years have highlighted the benefits of multiplayer gaming, including building social connections.

Similarly, researchers in a Computers in Human Behavior study highlight that frequent interpersonal interactions can affect cognition, emotional state, and general well-being while heavily influencing our motivations and behavior. Gamers who enjoy multiplayer sessions can create a sense of accountability when gaming together as they are encouraged to work and play together towards a shared goal, whether eliminating other enemies or bots or completing puzzles.