Attribute and skill points are limited

In games

In games, you grind monsters to level up and earn attribute and skill points.

Each level gives you a fixed amount of points.

5 attribute points, 1 skill point, 99 times total. That’s it.

You can put everything into strength and become a glass cannon.
You can max out defense and become a tank that never dies but can’t hurt anyone.
You can spread points evenly and become a jack-of-all-trades who’s mediocre at everything.

Every choice is a trade-off. Points in strength mean no points in intelligence. Learning fireball might mean you can’t afford ice spike.

No one complains this is unfair.

Because the numbers are crystal clear: this is all you get.

Game designers already did the math. They limit you on purpose to make the game more interesting. So every player has their own playstyle, their own path, their own identity.

There’s no “best” build, only the build that fits you best.

In reality

In real life, we all want to be min-maxed perfection.

Successful career, perfect family, great body, tons of hobbies, lots of friends, and still have time to binge shows and play games.

But life gives you even fewer points than games—and it’s way less fair.

Everyone’s “leveling efficiency” is different.

In games, it takes the same XP for everyone to hit level 5. In real life, some people perform on stage after one year of piano practice, while others struggle after ten. Some people read code once and get it, others take classes and still don’t understand.

Talent is like a hidden XP multiplier. Some people start with 2x, others with 0.5x. Same 1000 hours invested, vastly different results.

Let’s say mastering a domain takes 10,000 hours (not a scientific law, but a useful reference). The problem is, talented people might get there in 5,000 hours, while others are still halfway at 20,000.

And even if you accept the talent gap, time is still limited.

Everyone gets 24 hours a day. No matter how talented you are, time spent is time gone.

Famous entrepreneurs change the world but often sacrifice family time.
Professional athletes have incredible physical abilities but might not code.
Full-time parents care for their families with devotion but might not have time for a career.

Choosing soccer means giving up basketball time.
Choosing entrepreneurship means giving up the security of a steady paycheck.
Choosing to watch shows means giving up writing time.

This isn’t failure. This is stat allocation. Every choice is a trade-off, every strength has a sacrifice behind it.

No one can max out every skill tree. Even with talent multipliers, you’ll never have enough time.

Attribute and skill points are limited.

Player notes

I’m someone with endless curiosity and no attention span. Programming, music, languages, drawing, writing—I want to try everything.

I used to think this was a weakness, that I wasn’t focused enough. Watching people reach mastery in a single domain always made me envious.

Then I figured it out: I’d rather be level 40 in several domains than level 99 in one. I want to be a warrior who knows some magic, a thief who can heal.

I did the math. If you think of life as a game: 60 years × 365 days × 12 hours = 260,000 hours. If mastery takes 10,000 hours, I could master 26 things max. But that’s way too optimistic—most of my time goes to YouTube, shows, and spacing out. Time actually spent “leveling up” is probably less than a quarter.

There’s this popular “Ikigai” concept online about finding the intersection of four circles: what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for. Sounds beautiful, but think about it—satisfying all four conditions at once? That’s asking you to be a perfectly optimized character.

In Japanese, “生き甲斐” (ikigai) just means purpose and joy in life—nothing complicated. Western culture packaged it into this “perfect intersection” concept, which only makes people more anxious. As if life isn’t complete unless you check all four boxes.

My thinking now: you can respec at different life stages. Go all-in on career in your 20s, prioritize health in your 30s, care more about family in your 40s. Just like you can reset skills in games, you can adjust your priorities in life.

Accepting my limitations actually set me free. I don’t need to be strong at everything, just good enough in what I care about. That’s also a valid build. No right or wrong, just choices.

Leveling tips

□ List the 5 things you spend the most time on—that’s your current build
□ Do the math: how many “skill points” do you have left to allocate?
□ Accept your build: if you choose to be “decent at many things,” don’t envy specialists’ achievements
□ Respec regularly: it’s normal and healthy to have different priorities at different life stages
□ Don’t chase “perfect balance”—balance is also a build choice, and it means you won’t excel at anything