From Basement to Boardroom: Why Your Gaming Skills Are Your Career Superpower
Discover job crafting strategies from my friend’s brilliant approach to modern careers and meaningful work.
Key Takeaways:
- Gaming develops real-world career skills, including adaptability, strategic thinking, and resilience.
- Pairing Work That’s Worth It with The Career Game Loop offers purpose-driven insight and tactical job-seeking strategies.
- Jessica Lindl’s four-step Game Loop provides young professionals with an empowering framework for navigating career growth.
My best friend and I were both writing our first book on a similar topic to the same age demographic at the same time. We had no idea we were both tackling the same challenge—helping people navigate today’s changing job market—until we compared notes many months later.
I was writing Work That’s Worth It, while Jessica Lindl was simultaneously writing her own career book: The Career Game Loop. We released our books within a month of each other, and both became USA Today Best Sellers.
Watching a Career Strategist in Action
Jessica and I met at 19 years old, while traveling on a semester abroad program called Semester At Sea. We lived together when Jessica started her first full-time job in San Francisco, and even in our early 20s I knew that she had a knack for the corporate world. She made work and making money look easy.
Since then, I have watched Jessica take on interesting roles (her gravitational pulls) and master each opportunity. She’s highly organized, efficient, and disciplined—someone who can see clearly how to get from A to B while remaining intellectually curious and motivated.
I’d been eager to read her book, and while I was traveling this summer, I finally had a moment to page through her contribution to the world. I’m so excited to recommend it to you. Jessica has cracked the code on making career development feel less intimidating by connecting it to something millions of people already excel at—gaming.
How Gaming Builds Transferable Skills for Your Career
If you’re a gamer and wondering how your gaming hobby translates to “real world” success, Jessica’s book will open your eyes. You may even find yourself eager to advance in your career.
On the other hand, if you’re a parent watching your twenty-something camp out in the basement, controller in hand, Jessica’s book The Career Game Loop might just be the nudge you’ve been looking for. After reading this book, an approach to job hunting will finally make sense.
Jessica, now a Unity executive who has spent years in tech leadership, realized that gamers already possess the mindset needed to thrive in today’s rapidly changing economy. They often display strengths in adaptability, resilience, strategic thinking, and the ability to fail fast and improvise.
The Four-Step Game Plan to a Successful Career
Lindl’s method is brilliantly simple and uses four gaming-inspired steps:
- Choose a Quest (pick your career path)
- Level Up (build the skills you need)
- Job Hunt (deploy strategic tactics)
- Job Craft (customize your role for growth)
What I love about her approach is how tactical it gets. While my book, Work That’s Worth It, focuses on building meaningful work and achieving personal fulfillment, Jessica delves deep into the nuts and bolts of actually landing jobs, acing interviews, navigating your network, and negotiating offers. Her book is the perfect companion and “how-to” manual for putting purpose into practice.
Why Gaming Skills Improve Career Adaptation and Rapid Learning
The gaming metaphor isn’t just clever—it’s necessary. With the average person spending only four years in a job and 40% of career-defining skills susceptible to change, we need a mindset that embraces constant learning and adaptation. Gamers already think this way.
So whether you’re the gamer or the parent, consider this: those hours perfecting strategies and overcoming obstacles weren’t wasted time—they were career training in disguise.
Two Complementary Career Books for Young Professionals
If you’re a young professional, a graduate, or a parent wanting to encourage your child in their search for success, I recommend reading both books together:
- Start with Work That’s Worth It for discovering your purpose, values, and what meaningful work looks like for you.
- Follow with The Career Game Loop for the tactical execution—figuring out the job you want, interviews, networking, and job crafting.
Both books offer a comprehensive career roadmap, addressing the challenges of navigating a changing world. They are ideal for young professionals seeking guidance, those in career transitions looking to make an impact, and anyone who desires a fulfilling way to spend their 90,000 hours.
About the Authors:
- Jessica Lindl – USA Today best-selling author of The Career Game Loop, Unity Technologies executive, Silicon Valley tech leader, career strategist (ISBN: 978-1394217663)
- Georgi Enthoven – USA Today best-selling author, Work That’s Worth It, podcaster, and expert in meaningful work and professional fulfillment (ISBN: 978-1-63299-943-6)
Ready to Level Up For Career Growth?
Check out Jessica Lindl’s The Career Game Loop and order my book Work That’s Worth It for the complete guide to finding and landing work that matters. Together, they offer the mindset and the moves to build a career that’s successful AND meaningful.
Want more stories of people who’ve cracked the code on combining income and impact?
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Georgi
