The Call of Duty Guide to an Unstoppable Work Ethic

I have a confession to make:

I used to be a hopeless Call of Duty addict.

The franchise produced some of my favorite games back in the day, and I racked up a total of over two months played online.

Yeah I know, that’s insane.

But unlike most videogame addicts, I took what I learned from playing and used it to form connections to the real world.

So in this post, I’ll use what I learned from Call of Duty to help you develop an unstoppable work ethic of your own.

(And they say videogames are a waste of time…)

The Key to Making Your Hours Count

Call of Duty has always been a casual game that even the newest of players can enjoy.  That’s the biggest reason why the series became so popular—a whole generation grew up playing CoD because everyone could pick it up and play.

So what made some players stand out among such a massive player base?

Focused effort.

Earlier I mentioned the amount of time I spent playing back then. And for the majority of that time, I was striving to get the highest scores possible.

I didn’t just show up.

I was terrible when I first started playing, but soon I dominated games with attack dogs, AC-130’s, and swarms of drones on my way to the top of the scoreboard.

My improvement led to a craving to play every single day. And I became that try-hard who couldn’t accept being mediocre at a game I loved.

The mentality I played with was completely different from the mindset of most players. And I routinely topped the scoreboard because of it.

People asked me how I did it, but I wondered how you could not be good after playing as much as I did. I never understood how players who put in similar amounts of time were just as bad as those who got the game late for Christmas.

Those guys had been fans of the series for years, yet they had no idea how I consistently got scores they could only dream of.

The same thing happens in the real world.

People will discredit everything you do if you don’t have as much experience as them. They think there’s a linear relationship between the time you put in and the results you get. But that’s not how it works.

Lesson Learned:

No matter how old you are or what starting point you’re at, you have to make your hours count. You’ll always need time but time is nothing on its own.

You have to focus on the mission. You have to know what’s really important.

Remember that the focused effort you give is more significant than the actual number of hours.

Never Go Offline

If you want to be at your best, you have to prepare like the best.

That means you look for opportunities to improve at any time of the day. You can’t limit yourself to the normal hours that all the normal people abide by.

The players I knew who excelled in their matches didn’t just play more than the casuals. They learned from external sources when others had signed off hours before.

These guys interacted on forums, read strategy guides, and watched the best players on Youtube.

They didn’t just know the game inside and out. They had access to a whole community of extremely talented people. And they developed a network that supported them simply because they were willing to learn on their own.

If you were chatting with these guys in the lobby, you could tell they were on another level. They talked about the game in what seemed like a different language.

The feats that shocked and awed normal players barely received a word of praise from those guys. They exposed themselves to so much more on a daily basis.

Lesson Learned:

It’s not enough to learn and work when everyone else does it.

To be at your best, you have to put in the sweat when you’d rather relax. You have to do it when most people would watch TV. You’ll have to let your friends party without you.

Don’t worry about what the masses do. When you find a way to excel at your craft, you’ll really have something to celebrate.

Do It Your Way

Everyone had their go-to setup in Call of Duty.

To this day fans still argue over if the AC-130 was better than the Chopper Gunner. If the M16 was stronger than the FAMAS. And if the Tactical Nuke was more satisfying than the M.O.A.B.

But customization didn’t stop at the setups. Players expressed their personality through playstyles too.

Some of them rushed headfirst into gunfights while others crept around corners. Some climbed the leaderboards alone while others shared their victories with their friends.

It didn’t matter what you used or how you used it. You just had to find what worked for you.

Early in my playing days, I improved the most when I played slow and conservative on my own. But later on, I found a group of reliable guys to play with, and that’s when my whole playstyle changed.

I went from sitting in one spot the majority of the game to being an ultra-aggressive, in-your-face type of player. And on top of that, I had a crew that watched my back because I was willing to do the same for them.

Lesson Learned:

You won’t know what you’re capable of if you never step outside your comfort zone.

Find the style of work that complements your personality, but don’t be afraid to change that style in new ways.

Some of the world’s greatest innovations came from just trying something new. So don’t let what’s good enough now keep you from finding what could be great later.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears Aren’t Enough

In my early days of gaming, I noticed that players had advantages over me that had nothing to do with skill:

• They turned to shoot my character when I did my best to sneak behind them
• They responded a split second faster than what I thought was possible
• Their characters glided in ways I couldn’t copy no matter how I held the controller

Soon I found that all of this was a result of players buying accessories and add-ons for the game.

Call of Duty was the most popular game out at the time. And people were spending all kinds of money to gain a virtual advantage.

I didn’t want to spend a fortune to improve at a videogame, but I knew I had to invest in better equipment if I wanted to compete. That’s why I bought a headset to add sound to my playstyle, a gaming monitor with a microscopic input delay, and a custom controller that added new movements to my repertoire.

And because I was smart enough to do some research beforehand, I got all of that without breaking the bank.

Lesson Learned:

If you expect to do your best work, you have to invest some cash. Your blood, sweat, and tears won’t be enough.

Never skip out on the work or the hours. But remember to put your money to work too.

Show and Tell

Back when I was really into CoD, I couldn’t keep my strategies to myself. I had to show the world what I was doing.

That’s why I got a recording device for my Xbox and started teaching everything I knew.

I grabbed my best highlight games, rambled over them, and then uploaded them to Youtube. I showed other players what I did to be successful, and soon I had a notable audience who enjoyed what I put up.

But my videos didn’t just help my viewers. It benefited me even more.

If I wanted to be taken seriously online, I knew I had to stay on top of my game. That meant I had to develop a level of understanding that most players didn’t have. And as a result, I improved dramatically from the day I first uploaded.

But this wasn’t just an improvement at CoD. I developed skills that weren’t even related to gaming:

• I learned how to talk without saying “um” every sentence
• I learned how to ignore hateful comments and appreciate supporters
• And I learned how to accept real criticism and be even more critical of myself

Lesson Learned:

All of this was a hobby at the time, but teaching taught me how to be a producer instead of yet another consumer. It gave me the foundation to create something of my own.

So if you’re serious about developing an unstoppable work ethic, don’t just practice, show others what you know.

Will You Answer the Call?

It’s amazing what a videogame can tell you about your work ethic.

And while you shouldn’t obsess over anything like I did with Call of Duty, everyone can afford to do a little more.

So are you ready to do more than enough? Are you ready to embrace your craft?

I’d love to hear your answers in the comments. And if you’re (somehow) a current, or former Call of Duty fan, tell me what else you would add to this list.

-Drew