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Prolonged Learning Curves

Writer's picture: Dylan SanFilippoDylan SanFilippo

Throughout life anyone who wishes to be great (or even 'better than average' in most cases) almost always has to adopt an undertaking that will take a long time to complete before the greatness comes. This can come in the form of graduating college, starting a business, finding and/or courting the love of one's life, or writing a computer program thousands of lines long. Whatever the undertaking, task, or challenge, it may be helpful to put


To attempt to make light of what many know to be a serious topic, I have decided to use the video game X3 Terran Conflict, otherwise known as X3:TC or X3TC as a parallel because it is especially infamous in even its own online community for its extensive learning curve.


It is known in the fan-base of X3TC that the game itself possesses a learning curve of about 60-100 hours (sometimes even 200 hours)! In many cases, that exceeds the expected length of many AAA (or Tripple-A) video game titles!

The game starts you off with an introductory video telling the origin story of the universe that you play in and a tutorial that teaches you the basics of flying and ship navigation... Other than that, you are on your own for learning anything and everything about the game! This leads to intensely prolonged learning curves as you absorb information about ships, ship stats, relations with various races, the specifics of trade, weapon and shield stats and systems and upgrading, advanced ship-to-ship combat, ship-to-station combat, quest types and individual quests, the building of a trade empire, buying and placing stations, and more!

The complexity of this title can be overwhelming! Many things in life have prolonged learning curves as well.


I spoke with a business consultant last year who said, "The reason why most small businesses fail is because they quit too soon."


Another business consultant told about how when he started his business, he had to work for a long time before his income "Hockey Stick'd"!


In learning to deal with the immense complexity of an undertaking, we will look at coping strategies and useful tips which may be useful to you in a Prolonged Learning Curve or undertaking in your life.



Focus


You are not likely going to be successful if you put too much on the "plate" of your mind.

Having Too Much on Your Plate will not likely help you with Prolonged Learning Curves

If for example, you try to learn a second language (not programming-related) while going to college for a trade and starting your own business, your chances of succeeding in all of them will likely be low.

The same could be said if you tell your son/daughter/grandson/granddaughter to be: book-smart, street-smart, and a virtuoso! This is simply TOO MUCH expectation to place on a kid!

Yes, there are child prodigies, but they usually specialize in ONE THING.

Like this girl: her parents most likely helped her to focus on mastering this ONE skill!


There is nothing wrong with being proficient with ONE thing. We now live in an incredibly niched world, where the top performers are specialists in their (often narrow) fields...

It's just not possible to 'specialize' in everything. Remember: A jack of all trades is an ace of none!



Learning to Find the Beauty in the Journey

Beauty within the Journey

One of the things that kept me going in X3TC when I was playing it was the beauty of the landscape! The beautiful vistas were captivating (even at 720p)!!

And I'm not the only one who thinks this. Check out SimonDaKhan's reddit post: "Somehow, this game is still stunning after all these years"

Beauty in the Journey
Beautiful Sector with Stations and Ships in the Foreground

The cultures of the races were amusing, the politics were fascinating, and the architecture of the ships and stations were oddly captivating!


Whatever endeavor your learning curve is associated with, finding the beauty in it can relieve stress, increase motivation, and increase mental fortitude. If you determine that there is truly no intrinsic beauty in your endeavor, try to be mindful as you go about your tasks. Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress, increase ecstatic brain states, and increase creativity.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

There is even an entire practice called mindfulness based stress reduction. I would know, because I took a course on it in college and it has helped me out in life A LOT!



Low Pressure


Disclaimer: If you are someone who thrives in high-pressure environments, then this point may not mean the same to you.


High pressure is usually related to a high degree of outcome dependence. Deadlines and stress from internal and external factors could hinder your ability to find the performance and fortitude necessary to deal with prolonged learning curves!


It is important to always have a way to unwind. Whether that be listening to music, going for a walk or a hike, spending time with friends and/or family, visiting a nostalgic setting (physical or virtual/digital). To read more about work-life balance, click here.


Furthermore, high amounts of pressure can jam your creative mechanism when you need it most. Some great creatives throughout history found ways to create boredom so they could reap the benefits of heightened creativity and this often helped them in their endeavors.

High Pressure Can Be Dangerous to Your Health!

Not to mention that high amounts of stress can lead to high blood pressure and other health concerns.


Remember your Purpose


The purpose you have for the activities you have voluntarily chosen to partake in were chosen by you for a reason! Think about it: nobody held a gun to your head and forced you to work your job, marry your spouse (let's face it - shotgun weddings are a thing of the past anyway), do the laundry, mow the lawn, get a mortgage, have an auto loan...

YOU chose those things!


WHY?


You had to have some reason...

If you need a minute to think about why, don't worry, I'll wait...


...


Ok, if you're reading this far down the blog entry, you have probably found or remembered your reason or purpose for doing those things.

If you do not know your purpose, it may be helpful for you to spend some time contemplating that.

It definitely helps provide more clarity to your actions and goals when you have this.

Perspective
Having a purpose or a mission in life helps to put the things you complain about in perspective.

A study in Psychosomatic Medicine found when people have a greater sense of purpose, they have less incidence of cardiovascular disease and lower mortality. Studies have also shown that when people had a greater sense of purpose they experienced less loneliness and made better lifestyle choices.


Having that shining northern star of Purpose can often be the saving grace of motivation!


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