The Invisible Game
Gamify tedious daily tasks by secretly competing against rivals who don't know they're playing
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 82%
The Invisible Game turns dull, low-reward tasks into a private competition. James Smith assigns points to undesirable actions (getting up on time, studying an obscure topic, enduring a cold shower) and frames each as a move in a game other people are unknowingly playing. Early in his PT career he wrote a list of competitors and made every action a process to beat them, without ego because they never knew. The mechanism works by externalising motivation: instead of grinding through a task on willpower, you 'win points' or beat a rival, which removes you emotionally from the tedium. Crucially there is no final score, so like the 'prestige' loop in a video game you simply keep going. Penalties (adding ten seconds when you want to quit the cold shower) reinforce follow-through.
Origin
James Smith developed this while building his personal-training business, drawing on his love of video games like Call of Duty; he kept a list of competitors and turned every action into a move to beat them, later writing it up as 'the invisible game' in his book Not a Life Coach.
Core principles
- 01External structure beats relying on raw willpower
- 02Competition motivates even when the opponent never knows about it
- 03Assigning points to boring actions makes them worth completing
- 04The game removes you emotionally from the drudgery of the task
- 05There is no top score; you keep 'prestiging' indefinitely
How to run it
- 1
Identify the drudgery
Pinpoint the recurring tasks you avoid or find dull but that move you forward, such as early rising, studying, or admin.
Pro tip Pick tasks where the payoff is delayed and the boredom is immediate — those benefit most.
- 2
Attach points or a rival
Give each task a score ('getting out of bed on time, that's ten points') or name a competitor whose performance you are quietly trying to beat.
Pro tip Write out an actual list of competitors so the game feels concrete.
- 3
Reframe the task as a move
Treat completing the task as scoring against someone who doesn't realise they're in the contest — 'no one else is listening to this, so when I can recite it I win.'
Watch out Keep it private; going public turns it into ego and defeats the purpose.
- 4
Add penalties for quitting early
Build in a cost for bailing — if you think about leaving the cold shower early, add ten seconds, so quitting becomes more expensive than continuing.
Pro tip Small automatic penalties are more effective than trying to talk yourself back into the task.
- 5
Keep prestiging
Accept there is no final win. Like resetting a game to a higher level, you keep playing indefinitely, which sustains motivation long after novelty fades.
In the wild
Smith forced himself to finish a dull 57-minute podcast on caffeine, telling himself no one else would bother listening. The reward was purely competitive: when someone later asked about caffeine on an Instagram live, he could 'drop the adenosine pathway bomb' and win the exchange. The tedium of the content became bearable because he had framed it as banking ammunition for a game only he knew he was playing.
→ A boring hour of study became a source of standout expertise deployed at the right moment.
Chris Williamson described using the same mechanic in a cold shower: whenever he felt the urge to leave early, he added ten seconds to the timer. The self-imposed penalty made quitting more painful than staying, so he consistently completed longer exposures than willpower alone would have allowed.
→ Longer, more consistent cold-exposure sessions without relying on motivation.
Common mistakes
Making the game public
Announcing the competition turns it into an ego contest and invites resentment; the power comes from the rivals never knowing they're being beaten.
Waiting for a final win
Treating it as a game you can finish kills momentum. The point is to keep prestiging indefinitely rather than reaching a top score.
Is it for you?
Best for
Self-motivated solo operators who struggle to stay consistent on unglamorous, repetitive work.
Not ideal for
People who need collaborative accountability or find competition demotivating rather than energising.
From the transcript
“I play lots of games every day that no one else knows about. Other people are involved in them, but the people involved in them…”
“Getting out of bed on time, that's 10 points, you know.”
“In Call of Duty, you just keep prestiging. There's never You're never going to be the best, but you might as well keep going.”
From the episode
How To Design A Life You Love - James Smith - #205
James Smith