Life, League, and the connections between them

Sup y'all, Konduit here. Pull up a chair, kick back, and relax - let's talk a bit about life and League.

League of Legends, for many of us, is more than game. It's become a competitive sport, an outlet to test ourselves and personal skills, and a source of pride - stemming from one's accomplishments and performance in game.

Here's a concept to consider - every part of an individual's life is interconnected. As a quick example, think of when you might've performed poorly on a test - this may have negatively impacted your performance when you went out to play in a basketball game later that day. You can even reverse this situation - after underperforming in a basketball game, you bombed a test because you were distracted, thinking about what you should have done differently while shooting hoops.

In essence, events that happen in completely different spheres of your life (and their impact on your mind and thinking) can spill over into one another. As much as we'd like to think that our work and personal lives are separate, it is very rarely the case that the delineation is so rigid. Your experiences in work or at play can affect how you act and react in the other domain.

Now, don't make the mistake of thinking that this is a super-depressing blog post and that Konduit's a Debbie Downer. It's important to realize and understand that the reverse is also true: positive events in one sphere of your life can spill over positive benefits into the other spheres. And this is the most important concept I want to convey to you today.

Your performance in-game at League - to some varying degree - is a function of your overall mental state, determined by what and how things are going on in your life. Professional players, for whom the game is work, have likely undergone additional psychological prep such that they can immerse themselves in the task at hand, playing their best depsite whatever may be bothering them in their personal lives (as have most athletes across all sports). This is a good skill for everyone to have in general, but is very difficult to perfect, sans becoming some sort of enlighted sage.

The best way to ensure you play your best is to keep up a positive mental state: you achieve this by making sure you're doing well at work or at school, exercising daily, eating well, indulging in your hobbies, and overall by progressing in life. In short, by ensuring the rest of your life is going well, you are best prepared to achieve success in any specific part of it (in this case, League).

I'll give you some of my own personal experience, which you may identify with and find familiar. I've found that I'm most successful at League - and in video games in general - when everything's sorted out and I can just sit down play for fun. Matches mostly become a breeze and even if things aren't going well in game, there's no stress or saltiness, just acceptance and a positive, forward-looking mindset. When I'm in negative mood, stressed, or procrastinating work, tilting is much easier and games are tougher. I'm more self-critical of myself for in-game mistakes, and my results are generally poorer. In these cases, I'm playing not for fun, but merely as an outlet, a distraction. In this state, you cannot play the game optimally, and more importantly, the experience just isn't as enjoyable!

Meditation (yeah, I couldn't resist) is an extremely helpful life skill for managing stress - try and practice it on a regular basis.

As you might be wondering, yes, success in League can spill over positive benefits to the rest of your life (congruent with our theory). However, achieving it is much more fickle and unreliable. It's better to focus on your life goal (whatever that may be - it could certainly be professional League) and let THAT surplus of positivity overflow into the other aspects of your life.

Though you could probably divide work and play with a clean line, it is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to divide your mental state between the two. Your mind, who you are, is the common factor between both of these domains. Ensure that both sides are doing well as best you can, and reap the benefits (whether they be promotions at work, success in school, good health, or pentakills) as they stream in.

That's all for today, I hope you enjoyed the article. If you'd like to discuss anything League, have comments/feedback on this article, or just want to say hi, feel free to tweet me @k0nduit (with a zero instead of an 'o') and I'll get back to you.

Until next time.

konduit