Timing is a very important concept. Swing a sword too early in a game and you miss your opponent, leaving yourself open to attack. Too late and your attack is blocked or dodged. Fighting games pretty much base their entire systems on this concept. Reading your opponents’ movements and knowing how and when to react is key. Something that they teach you extremely thoroughly in Mortal Kombat 11‘s tutorial.

Life does not necessarily have a nice, accessible tutorial. Nothing that shows everybody the same way how to live a successful life. This means that everyone has to learn through experience how to make the most of the life that they are given. Sadly, not everyone is able to learn this lesson. When presented with a choice, there are always at least 3 options: choose option A, choose option B, or don’t make a choice and miss both options. Too often it is the last choice that many people make on important decisions.

Perhaps the game that taught me this lesson the best has been the TellTale games as a collection. However, the first one that really helped me get it was TellTale’s The Walking Dead. You are given a timer for just about every decision in the game and when you don’t make a choice, it is made for you and you have to continue the game with the consequences of not reacting. These games also make sure to remind you of your choices throughout your experience. That means all four seasons of The Walking Dead. Need to make a choice between saving a physically capable young woman or a nice and resourceful, but slow young man? If you can’t decide in time, they both die and then you die.

The important takeaway here is that a choice will always be made. Whether you realize a choice is being made or not, you make choices constantly. If you are trying to start a business but can’t decide on what you want to do, eventually you will have to make a choice to start a business at all, settle for a job somewhere else to make money, or not have work at all, make no money, and suffer the consequences. In all scenarios, remember that you do have time to consider the pros and cons of any path.