When I was a kid, we played a lot of card games. It was the fun thing to do with friends, family, and when I had free time. I still enjoy playing card games, this weekend I was introduced to a new one and it was perfect for most ages and lots of fun. (Reach out to me if you want to know the name of it, I don’t want us to get off topic.)
Often people ask me, what is one thing I can do to change my life? The simple answer is, what is the one thing that came to mind when you asked me that question? Now, take action on that step.
The simplest way for me to explain taking action is to use my Uno analogy.
In case you have never played the classic card game of Uno, here are the rules.
Classic UNO is played with a deck of 108 cards, where each player is dealt 7 cards and the goal is to be the first to reach 500 points (or simply be the first to get rid of all your cards in shorter games).
Players take turns matching a card in their hand to the top card of the discard pile by either color or number. If you don’t have a card, in your hand, you can play on the discard pile you have to draw a card.
Special cards like Skip, Reverse, Draw Two, Wild, and Wild Draw Four add twists by changing turns, forcing draws, or letting players choose colors. When a player has only one card left, they must call out “UNO!” before their next turn, or risk drawing two penalty cards if caught.
THIS IS HOW YOU TAKE ACTION IN LIFE.
Just like in cards, we don’t always get to pick our situation, but we have to deal with or take action on the cards we have been delt. In the context of my coaching that would be having neurodiverse traits.
In the game of Uno when it is your turn, you look at the cards you have and decide if there is anything that will move your forward closer to winning the game, which means to play all of your cards.
In life when it is your turn, you do the same thing when dealing with a challenge, growth, problem, or adventure. You see what you have that you can use to help you win the challenge at hand.
Example: Challenge – What is for dinner?
Options at hand: Fridge, Freezer, Cuberts, Counter, Calendar (you might be eating out or have something to attend with food served)
Do any of those options match/fit to solve the challenge in this moment?
KEY FACTOR
In the game of Uno when none of your options at hand can be used to solve the challenge you pick a card from the pile of undealt cards, hoping you get something you can discard to fit the challenge.
This is where all card games get interesting if you play with new people. People interpret the rules differently, a great reminder that in life, people can read the same information and come up with a different outcome.
For Uno my family had the rule that you would pick from the draw pile of cards UNTIL you had a card you could discard. Sometimes I would draw 10 cards before I got a solution to the challenge. Then I had lots of cards to get rid of.
Years later when I was playing with someone else, they did not interpret the rules that way and in their game, we only picked one card and then play passed if you were not able to discard. When my father passed away and we were going through his belongings we came across our original Uno game and we all read the directions inside and then we searched the internet for the rules. They had changed. We were both right.
In life if we don’t have the solution to the challenge at hand, we can go to the draw pile, which means ask for help (draw a card from the pile), use our resources (use that card to end our turn and place it on the discard pile), or ask our resources to ask for help (get a whole lot of other cards, the Schumer original rules).
If you played card games as a child, you were being taught the simple easy rules of life. Now it is time to start to apply those tools that you already have.
Notice that in the game of Uno, the game doesn’t stop just because they don’t have the right card. Notice everyone doesn’t get up from the table and run away from the challenge at hand. Notice that there are always other options until the game ends.
Back to our example: Challenge – What is for dinner?
Options at hand: Fridge, Freezer, Cuberts, Counter, Calendar (you might be eating out or have something to attend with food served)
Draw a card: Order delivery, Go out to eat, Fast for the night, Phone a friend, Phone a bunch of friends and have a party.
In the game of Uno sometimes, when played with the current rules, you pick a card and that doesn’t help you place a card on the discard pile, and your turn is done. The next people take their turns. Then when it is your turn again, the challenge has changed, and you now might have the right card in your hand to play.
In life the same is true. Just because you ask someone for help or get another tool it might not solve the challenge right in that moment. You might have to wait for your turn to come back around. Sometimes we do just need to wait, take a moment, take a beat, and allow the situation to adjust for us to better solve the challenge.
Back to our example: Challenge – What is for dinner?
Options at hand: Fridge, Freezer, Cuberts, Counter, Calendar (you might be eating out or have something to attend with food served)
Draw a card: Order delivery, Go out to eat, Fast for the night, Phone a friend, Phone a bunch of friends and have a party.
Solution: You called some friends, and they are coming over for dinner and bring food with them. The challenge will be solved when the people show up with the food. You will have to wait for your turn to be a part of the solution.
HOW DID WE FORGET THIS?
Our feelings and emotions like to make things harder than they need to be. Sometimes to avoid, sometimes to feel more powerful having overcome a greater challenge. One of the ways that happens fastest is by having the mindset of “I have to do this all by myself.” This is a destructive pattern and one that you already know how to change and fix.
It’s time to repurpose the skills you were given as a child when playing card games.
- Use the cards you have been dealt to the maximum
- Go to the draw pile when the cards you have are not able to compete the challenge at hand. Ask for help, if you don’t have what you need yet to beat this challenge.
- Let other people take a turn with the challenge and when it’s your turn again, things might be different, and you might have the right card to play that turn.
- Don’t give up or quiet in the middle of the game. Have faith, fun, and figure out what you are learning to use the next time you play the game.
See how simple that was to take action on a challenge? More than likely you already have the tools to win in life, you just need to repurpose them and apply them to everyday challenges.
I would love to hear from you.
What games did you play as a kid?
What life skills were they teaching you and you didn’t even realize it?
Thanks for reading my article and please take a moment to follow me on one of the many social media platforms or share this with someone that could use it.
All the best in your next life challenge,
JoyGenea Schumer
Video transcription:
Why life is like a game of UNO.
Simple breakdown of doing life easier, and you already know the rules.
Hi. So the game of UNO… wait, simple breakdown of doing life easier, and you already know about this. When I was a kid, we played a lot of card games. It was a fun thing to do with friends, family, and when I had free time. I still enjoy playing cards today, I truly do.
This weekend I was introduced to a new game, and it was perfect for most ages and lots of fun. Reach out to me if you want to know the name of it. I don’t want us to get off topic, so I’m staying on topic.
Often people ask me, “What is one thing I can do to change my life?” The simple answer is: what is the one thing that came to mind when you asked me that question? Now take that action step and do that.
The simple way to explain taking action is to use my UNO analogy.
In case you have never played the classic card game of UNO, here are the rules. Classic UNO is played with a deck of 108 cards. Each player is dealt seven cards, and the goal is to be the first to reach 500 points, or simply to be the first to get rid of all the cards.
In your shorter game, players take turns matching a card in their hand to the top card on the discard pile by either color or number. So it works really well for younger people, they can handle this. If you don’t have a card in your hand you can play on the discard pile, you have to draw a card.
Special cards like Skip, Reverse, Draw 2, Wild, and Draw Four add twists and changes to turns, forcing draws or letting players choose colors. When a player has only one card left, they call out “UNO” before their next turn or risk drawing two penalty cards if caught. That’s not fun, I’ve had it happen.
This is how you take action in life. It’s really this simple. Just like in cards, you don’t always get to pick our situation, but we have to deal with, or take action on, the cards that we have been dealt.
In the context of my coaching, that would be having neurodiverse traits. In the game of UNO, when it is our turn we look at the cards we have and decide if there’s anything that will move us forward, or closer to winning the game, which means being out of all of our cards.
In life, when it is your turn, do you do the same thing when dealing with a challenge, or growth, or problem-solving, or an adventure? You see what you have that you can use to help you win the challenge at hand.
Example, the challenge here: let’s say, “What’s for dinner?” The options at hand: I have a fridge full of food. I have a freezer full of food. I have cupboards full of food. I have a countertop that has some foods on it. I have a calendar—you might be eating out or have something to attend. Ergo, food is served. Do any of these options match or fit to solve the challenge in that moment? Haha.
Key factor in the game of UNO: when none of the options in your hand can be used to solve the challenge, you pick a card from the pile of undealt cards, helping you get something you can discard to fit the challenge.
This is where all card games get interesting. If you play with new people, people interpret the rules differently. A great reminder—that also happens in life. People can read the same information and come up with a different outcome.
For UNO, in my family we had the rule that you would pick from the draw pile until you had a card you could discard. It meant you might have 20 more cards, sometimes. I would draw 10 cards before I got a solution to the challenge. Then I had lots of cards to get rid of.
Years later, when I was playing with someone else, they did not interpret the rules that way. In their game, they only picked one card, and then played pass if they were not able to discard.
When my father passed away, we were going through his belongings and in there we came across our original family game of UNO. Very worn, corners all rough. We all read the directions inside, and then we researched on the internet for the rules. They had changed. They had shifted from when it originally came out. We really had one of the original ones. So we were both right.
In life, if you don’t have the solution to the challenge at hand, you can go to the draw pile, which means asking for help. Draw a card from the pile, use your resources, use that card to end our turn and place it on the discard pile. Or ask our resources for more help, get a whole lot of other cards—the Schumer original rules.
If you played cards as a child, you were being taught the simple easy rules of life. Now it is time to start to apply those rules that you already have. I told you this was easy and you already knew it.
So notice that in the game of UNO, the game doesn’t stop just because you don’t have the right card. Notice everyone doesn’t get up from the table and run away from the challenge at hand. And notice that there are always other options until the game ends.
So back to our example. The challenge is “What’s for dinner?” Options at hand: fridge, freezer, cupboards, counter, calendar—might be going out. Now there’s also order delivery, go out to eat fast for the night, phone a friend, phone a bunch of friends and have a party, have them potluck and bring over some food.
In the game of UNO, sometimes when played with the current rules, you pick a card and that doesn’t help you. You place the card in the discard pile and the turn is done. The next people take a turn. Then when it is your turn again, the challenge has changed, and now you might have the right card in your hand to play.
In life, the same is true. Just because you ask someone to help you get another tool, it might not solve the challenge right in that moment. You might have to wait for your turn to come back around. Sometimes we do just need to wait, take a moment, take a beat, and allow the situation to adjust for us to better solve the challenge.
So back to our example, our challenge of “What’s for dinner?” Right: fridge, freezer, cupboards, counters, calendar. Then last time we added order delivery, go out to eat fast for the night, phone a friend, have a party. Solution—you called friends, and they were coming over for dinner and bringing food with them. The challenge will be solved when the people show up with the food. You will have to wait your turn to be part of the solution.
How did we forget this? Our feelings and emotions like to make things harder than they really need to be. Sometimes to avoid, sometimes to feel more powerful, having overcome greater challenges. One of the ways that happens fastest is by having the mindset of, “I have to do all of this all by myself.” This is a destructive pattern, and one that you already know how to change and fix.
I just walked you through it. You have been taught this if you have played games, and this includes some video games. It’s time to repurpose the skills you were given as a child when playing card games. Use the cards you have been dealt to the maximum—meaning use those neurodiverse traits. Find out all those strengths. Apply them. Go to the draw pile when the cards you have are not able to complete the challenge at hand. Ask for help. If you do not have what you need to beat this challenge, get more help, use more resources. Let other people take a turn with the challenge. And when it’s your turn again, things might be different, and you might have the right card in your hand to play that turn.
And don’t give up or quit in the middle of the game. Have some faith, have some fun, and figure out what you are learning that you are going to use next time you play the game.
See how simple that was to take action on a challenge? More than likely, you already have the tools to win in life, you just need to repurpose them and apply them to the everyday challenges you are having now.
I would love to hear from you. What games did you play as a child, and what life skills were they teaching you that you didn’t even realize?
Thanks for joining me on this video. If you wanted to read through it, it’s down in the article. Please take a moment, leave a comment, make sure to follow me, because I have lots more upcoming to share with you.
All the best in your life challenges. I’m JoyGenea, international neurodiversity coach and lover of card games, haha. Thank you so much. Bye now.