This is part 2 of 4 in our Leveling Upwards series.
All models are wrong, but good models are useful.
Linear models of experience – say, charting our progression from level 1 to level 20 like in our favorite TTRPGs – are wrong, but they are useful for measuring the sum of who we are.
How are they wrong? They fall short in showing HOW we got there.
The reality is, a level might be just a number, but we are more than a number on a scale.
We are human beings on a winding, twisting journey moving through time each at our own pace through our own place in the world.
No linear model can capture every decision to stay on the adventure highway, take an exit, venture off-road, stop for gas, get lost, find the fast lane, miss our exit, struggle through a detour, and wonder where all the time went when we finally arrive at our destination and complete our quest.
In fact, at Coaches & Dragons, we’d argue that the best model for experience is the one that reflects all of the pivots and potential in our journey.
When were the decision points and the crossroads in your life? What informed your direction?
Where do you need to take on a more difficult path? Where has the road been easiest?
When did you have to go backwards? When did you change directions altogether?
When did you “multiclass” and tackle several roles at once?
Our pivots and decisions we DIDN’T choose reflect as much of who we are as what we DID choose. Embedded in those decisions are our priorities, our rationale, and our learnings about ourselves and the adventure we want to live out in the multiverse.
What we say “no” to creates the road for our “yes.”
Where we decide to turn shows our courage and our resolve.
Where we backtrack shows our healing and learning so we can keep making progress and move ahead.
We are not our future potential, yet all of our future potential lies within us.
So where are you heading next?
PIVOT!
Sincerely,
Autumn & Jerod