This was email 1 of 15 of the live email course I sent out for launching The Sidequest. You can subscribe to The Sidequest here.
The pink lychee juice dribbled off onto my black and white stubble as I threw a flimsy plastic bottle into the dustbin under the sink.
I burped a little and turned to go upstairs when I heard a whimper.
And in the same prolonged breath, that whimper mutated into a howl.
“Appa! Why did you do that?” my daughter cried, tears and snot fighting with words to escape her mouth.
Wailing, she ran off to my waifu. And that’s when I knew I was truly and utterly… ducked.
I had stolen and finished her Mogu Mogu juice.
Again.
It’s not my fault, ok?
I love the damn thing. Those little bits of ‘nata de coco’ are just… addictive.
In the past 7 days, I have had enough of those bottles to make a diabetologist cry. And I still can’t stop buying them.
I can’t stop thinking about those soft, chewy bits of coconut flavoured thingies.
Between you and me, I’ve got a stash in my second floor studio. Some in the shelf below the Ganesha statue. 2 bottles are tucked away behind the Discworld books.
Like I said, it’s getting slightly out of control.
But…. I don’t wanna stop.
This is exactly how I felt back in 2011 – the day after I asked the most important question of my life.
Get comfortable [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]. It’s story time.
Here’s what happened:
A month or so before I asked that all important question, I had met some old college friends for a five year reunion. And I swear – it felt like I was in a talent show hosted by jealous aunties with everyone was one upping the other to show how well they were doing.
Someone had bought a car.
Someone else was building a house.
A third had their tax planning all sorted out.
And there I was, driving around a beat up motorcycle that was heavier than a cow and slower than a horse.
And to top it off, I was married. (╥_╥)
Yikes.
Anyway, after that shitshow, I got all worked up and decided that I’m gonna catch up and surpass them.
So, I cued up Eye_Of_The_Tiger.mp3 😁 and started my training montage.
I started getting up at 5 AM, went for walks and stopped binge watching Netflix. I started learning how to code and even started reading those pesky letters from the tax department too.
The new me was gonna rock.
And the new me did.
For about 10 days.
Then, my will power folded like wet tissue and motivation started dropping.
It hit rock bottom – and kept going.
I spiraled out of control and avoided everything that was important – work, finances, health. And even family.
I spent my time playing videogames on the PC.
Especially Diablo 3.
I had been playing games since the age of 6 – and they’re my safe space.
That’s where I felt I was in ‘control’ and I was ‘winning’.
So, that continued.
My depression became worse and worse until I finally became a fat & smelly bum who played videogames all day.
Until, that one night.
It was about 2:30 or 3 in the morning and I was hungry. This was the 3rd or 4th time I was opening the fridge, so my standard for an ‘acceptable snack’ was pretty low.
There I was, sitting on the couch, my mouth full of stale and cold coconut – looking at the screen.
And that’s when it hit me.
That’s when I asked the question:
Would I still be such a loser if my life was like that game?
Hooooooooly shit…
That question caught hold of me like one of those angry attack dogs you see on tv.
That question made me shut down my computer and spend the next 4 hours sketching this idea out.
That question kept me going since then and made me learn about all sorts of things in search of an answer.
With tons of trial and error, I created The Put The Player First Framework. It’s a powerful mental model from videogames that we can apply to any situation turn it into an adventure.
I’m talking about heroes and monsters and loot and the like.
It’s some good stuff – and tomorrow, we are gonna turn marketing into an adventure.
Keep an eye out for my email, ok?
Now, I gotta go buy some more Mogu Mogu juice.
For my daughter.
Of course.
Bye.
With love from Bengaluru, this is Arvindh saying over and out.
P.s. I realized that I have had a longstanding love affair with coconuts that could make my waifu jealous. I don’t know what to make of it.