You’ve all probably played, or heard of, a video game with a class system. Well, what if you could use the same system to level up in life? No matter what the genre, the classes are usually based on a variation of:

+ Strong (maybe a warrior)
+ Smart (maybe a mage)
+ Kind (maybe a healer)
+ Quick (maybe a rouge)

These stereotypes didn’t start with video games. In fact, you can tie these classes into “archetypes”, a term made popular by the incredible psychologist Carl Jung.

An archetype is an unreachable ideal of a human being. We’ve been creating and trying to mimic them since the beginning of time, with stories about the strong, like Hercules, or the kind, like an angel.

Archetypes are universal; there’s something deep inside the human soul that causes us to express ourselves through archetypes.

It’s not just for a good story. If you can discover your current archetypes, and the archetypes you’re trying to reach, you’ve just created a road map for your own physical and psychological growth.

Everyone has one: your life is a story, no matter how great or small. That’s why you’ve won and lost, laughed and cried, struggled and made choices. You’re dead center in the middle of your own story.

There is incredible psychological power in mapping your own journey along with the archetype you are willing to play. It will help you correct past behavior that doesn’t live up to your new ideals. It will help you recategorize past misery and failure as a gauntlet you passed. You can master your emotions and find positive role models.

 

FINDING YOUR CLASS

All of us are born with certain traits, just like you may start out a game with an unevenly distributed set of characteristics. You and your class have great strengths and terrible weaknesses.

If you didn’t, the game would be over. It’s fun to play with cheat codes for a while, but soon the lack of challenges your character’s immortality brings gets quite boring! It’s hard to see your life in the same way when you’re struggling, but your story would be worthless without it.

In order to find your class, you must combine your default characteristics with the class you respect and resonate with.

A fair warning: many times we want to be something we can’t. And many times, our society seems to discriminate against certain classes or even the currently-classless. You’re going have much more fun and go much farther mastering your own class instead of trying to imitate something else.

Don’t put yourself in a box; train however you like. In games, your character can certainly work for skills outside of their class. But, they can never reach the power of someone with those innate characteristics.

The smart usually want to be strong, the strong usually want to be quick, quick usually want to be kind, and so on. That’s the wonderful paradox of life: we’re all incredibly insecure about something. And it just so happens that none of these classes could survive without each other.

Look around us, and all the incredible things we’ve done. We have technology, but we also enjoy and respect our primality. We have capitalism, but we also have selfless giving. Nothing will ever “win” over each other in the end: our only shot at beating the game, as ourselves and as a race, is balance and teamwork.

 

1. BECOMING THE WARRIOR

Everyone needs a bit of this archetype, or you’re not going to get very far. But you may discover that individuals who completely embody this class have a hard time integrating into society or forming healthy relationships.

The warrior is engaged, confident, and usually physically fit. The warrior can save the day, lead a team, and provide for a family. They are not afraid to take on new challenges, regardless of past results.

How to train your warrior archetype:

1. Pursue peak physical fitness.
2. Develop a resilient attitude.
3. Learn to enjoy competition.
4. Take on new challenges.
5. Work on your leadership skills.

Avoid these warrior pitfalls:

1. Becoming too aggressive.
2. Letting your ego win.
3. Looking down on others.
4. Becoming too single-minded.
5. Mindlessly following orders.

 

2. BECOMING THE MAGE

You won’t be able to forge your own path in life without some serious smarts. And the power of the mage is to create: artists, entrepreneurs, lovers. There is no end to the benefits of intelligence, but beware falling into the trap of disinterest, disillusionment, and negativity.

How to train your mage archetype:

1. Read constantly. There is endless knowledge.
2. Take on problems that need innovation.
3. Practice skills like public speaking or debate.
4. Create new solutions and works of art.
5. Find high quality mentors.

Avoid these mage pitfalls:

1. Specializing in too specific of topics.
2. Losing the ability to relate to others effectively.
3. Developing an ego based on intelligence.
4. Ignoring the real benefits of kindness and strength.
5. Disengaging from daily life and society.

 

3. BECOMING THE HEALER

Our world would be completely lost without these people. The healer is no pushover either: instead of inflicting pain, they usually choose to take on the pain of others. But you are not an endless well: beware being pushed too far or used too much, because you will break and need extensive rest to regain your strength.

How to train your healer archetype:

1. Engage in local volunteer efforts.
2. Practice active listening.
3. Take care of your spiritual health.
4. Follow your gut when it comes to helping.
5. Find careers that use your healing power.

Avoid these healer pitfalls:

1. Blowing things out of proportion.
2. Giving up on others out of frustration.
3. Avoiding conflict or standing up for yourself.
4. Using poor coping mechanisms.
5. Ignoring serious life responsibilities.

 

4. BECOMING THE ROGUE

There’s smarts, and then there’s street smarts. In both social and survival situations, you need to be quick on your feet and perform a wide variety of skills. The rogues are great at getting their own needs met, and often sharing the spoils with the party. But beware the rogue who becomes consumed with narcissism, and ends up alone in a room full of people.

How to train your rogue archetype:

1. Improve your social skills.
2. Keep up with news and trends in all areas.
3. Learn negotiation and sales tactics.
4. Take care of your physical health.
5. Learn a wide variety of “handy” skills.

Avoid these rogue pitfalls:

1. Becoming obsessed with worldly success.
2. Using people for personal gain.
3. Ostracizing themselves with odd behavior.
4. Developing unhealthy living habits.
5. Closing off to personal connections.

 

TRAINING WITH A CUSTOM SKILL TREE

Here comes the key to success. When you play a game, there are set levels of progress that unlock bigger and better skills. Usually, you complete some sort of repetitive task to reach these higher levels.

Sound familiar? Welcome to life.

By now, most people know they need to take consistent, long-term action to reach their goals and the included benefits. The problem is, it can be hard to see the end result when you’re stuck in the grind.

That’s why we’ve created the Conquer Today Skill Tree for your personal habits. You’ll go through the step-by-step setup process to develop a skill tree for whatever habit you want to master.

Then, you’ll create a program to reach success based on completing daily activities and reaching new benchmark levels! You can see your progress in real time, even though it may feel like you’re standing still.

Download the free Skill Tree worksheet below.

MOVING FORWARD

Which one of these classes resonated with you? Take pride in the strengths and weaknesses you already have!

Training towards any of these classes will bring on serious benefits, including strong social circles, increased financial stability, and long-lasting physical health.

But there is another level past mastery.

Eventually, we all must return to balance. For the sake of this big metaphor, let’s call it maxing out our stats. Health without friends isn’t worth much. Friends without a stable home and job can be pretty demotivating. The well-lived life is a constant learning experience filled with all of the above habits, and avoiding all of the above pitfalls. Good luck.

Leave a field report: Which class are you, and how do you plan on working towards the next level?