26 Things Game Development Taught Me About Winning at Life in 2026

Tom Bilyeu's Impact Theory

Impact Theory

News Commentary, News, Business

4.7 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu! In this deep dive episode, Tom Bilyeu distills 25 years of entrepreneurial wisdom and his recent journey as a game developer into "26 Ways to Win in 2026." Drawing on powerful lessons from both business and gaming, Tom Bilyeu explores why your beliefs and values are your personal programming, how life mirrors a player versus player versus environment (PvPvE) game, and why skills, clear goals, and relentless adaptability are crucial for thriving in a rapidly changing world shaped by AI and economic uncertainty. You’ll hear actionable strategies on reframing challenges, building habits for success, mastering asset ownership, and surrounding yourself with a high-performance environment. From the importance of failure and iteration to crafting your own meaning and purpose, this episode is packed with insights on how to level up—no matter where you’re starting from. If you’re ready to enter the next year with clarity, confidence, and a fulfilled mindset, tune in for Tom Bilyeu’s ultimate guide to turning 2026 into the best year of your life. 00:00 Intro 00:12 #1 - You Are Programmable 02:22 #2 - Life Is A PvPvE Game 04:23 #3 - The Universe Is A Set Of Rules 05:45 #4 - Skills Have Utility 06:25 #5 - You Need Clear Goals 08:41 #6 - Understand The Economy or Be A NPC 09:54 Ad For Tom’s TCG Habit 11:03 Ad 2 For Drew’s Date Stories 12:03 Back To The Countdown 12:49 #7 - Nobody Is Coming To Save You 14:16 #8 - The Meta Is Constantly Changing 15:47 #9 - Want Bigger Rewards, Pursue Bigger Difficulties 17:43 #10 - Don’t Chase Useless Side Quests 19:38 #11 - When You Rest, Your Competition Isn’t 20:00 #12 - Your Environment Is a Buff or Debuff 21:56 #13 - Meaning Isn’t Discovered, It’s Engineered 23:47 #14 - Ship Early And Get Feedback 24:18 #15 - You Are Trapped In Your Frame Of Reference 26:03 #16 - Your First 100 Attempts Will Be Trash 26:45 #17 - Success Is Iteration Done Longer Than Others Can Stand 27:59 #18 - If You Don’t Measure It, You Can’t Improve It 28:34 #19 - Ideas Don’t Make You Valuable, Execution Does 29:51 #20 - Learn From The Past 31:14 #21 - Go To Where The Future Will Be. Don’t Chase The Present 33:11 #22 - You’re Going To Fail ALOT. Learn From It 35:09 #23 - Most People Play On Easy Mode - Go For Hardcore! 37:14 #24 - Your Habits Are Daily Updates To Your Future Self 40:19 #25 - Practice, Don’t Just Repeat 40:54 #26 - 2026 Is Here, Level Up Or Get Left Behind Quince: Go to https://quince.com/IMPACTPOD for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Linkedin: Post your job free at https://linkedin.com/impacttheory HomeServe: Help protect your home systems – and your wallet – with HomeServe against covered repairs. Plans start at just $4.99 a month at https://homeserve.com Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/impact Huel: 15% off with this exclusive offer for New Customers only with code impact at https://huel.com/impact (Minimum $75 purchase). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I've been an entrepreneur for about 25 years, but the last year as a game developer has taught me 26 critical lessons that are going to help you make 2026 the best year of your life.
0:12.7	One, you are programmed just like a character in a video game.
0:17.7	If you want different outcomes, you got to change the programming. Your life is
0:23.1	controlled by your values and your beliefs. This is one of the most important things that I'm
0:28.6	going to discuss today. Your beliefs and values are the programming that dictate both what you
0:34.3	look at and what you see.
0:37.7	It is shocking but true that both beliefs and values are subjective and largely choices.
0:46.6	Physics is real.
0:49.1	But beyond that, most things are just interpretation.
0:53.1	Humans are shockingly bad at identifying what's real in the world.
0:59.1	To give you an idea, we see 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum. And yet, when we look out of the world, we feel like we're seeing everything there is to
1:12.9	see.
1:13.6	There is a dime-sized blank spot in your field of vision right now, but you don't perceive it
1:20.7	at all.
1:21.7	Your brain just fills it in.
1:23.0	You can look up countless examples of the way that your brain will fall for optical illusions
1:30.3	because it's not representing reality as it actually is. It's representing a heuristic, a rule of
1:37.0	thumb, a quick sketch. You can alter your beliefs and your values. And that will actually
1:42.8	change what you see. Do you see a challenge or a
1:46.9	problem? Do you see an obstacle that you can't overcome or something that you can solve? The difference
1:53.4	between those kinds of things will change the entire quality of your life. And if, for instance,
1:58.8	you want to feel differently and behave differently,
	...

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