Game Mindset: Save often

In games

In games, we all know to save frequently.

Save before the boss fight. Save after getting rare equipment. Save before exploring a new map. Save every time before logging off.

Why? Two reasons.

First, having a save file gives you the courage to take risks.

With a save file, you dare to take that dangerous-looking path.
With a save file, you dare to go head-to-head with the boss.
With a save file, failure just means reload and try again—no big deal.

What happens to players who don’t save? They play timidly, afraid to try anything.

Second, saving prevents you from starting over.

Play for three hours without saving, then the game crashes. Everything resets, back to square one. Those three hours of exploration, monsters defeated, puzzles solved—all gone. You have to redo everything, and you might not even get the same loot.

Die with a save file? Reload, and your progress from five minutes ago is still there.

The more frequently you save, the smaller the cost of failure.

Smart players also keep multiple save slots. If you take the wrong path, no need to start over—just load a different save.

Saving isn’t cowardice. Saving is the insurance that lets you play boldly without fearing wasted effort.

In reality

We all love stories of “burning the boats.”

Drop out to start a company, quit without a backup plan to chase dreams, go all in, then achieve massive success. How romantic, how inspiring.

But you only see the few who succeed. The ones who burned their boats and failed? No one reports on them.

Going to fight the boss without saving isn’t romantic—it’s reckless.

What are save files in real life?

Money is the most direct save file. With six months of living expenses saved, you dare to leave a bad job. With a year of runway, you dare to try starting a business. Quitting without savings is like fighting the boss without saving.

Skills are save files stored in yourself. What you’ve learned, no one can delete. Company goes bankrupt, you get laid off—skills remain. This is the safest save file.

Backup plans are your multiple save slots. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Have a Plan B, and you can turn back if you take the wrong path.

Records are your save points. Write down what you’ve learned, what you’ve tried. Even if a project fails, the experience isn’t wasted. Next time you can continue from this point.

Counterintuitively: people with escape routes are actually bolder. Because the cost of failure is low, they can try things freely. People without backup plans are the ones who play it safe, afraid one failure means Game Over.

One more thing to be careful about: some decisions overwrite your save file.

Burning bridges, destroying your credit, ruining your health—these are irreversible. Once overwritten, there’s no old save to load.

Playing it safe isn’t romantic, but it lets you play longer and bolder.

Save often.

Player notes

I’ve lost save files to crashes and power outages so many times that I compulsively save when playing games.

When I became an engineer, I realized version control is a save system. Wrote something broken? Revert to the previous version. “Auto-save” is even better.

But financially, I used to never save at all.

I used to love gambling. Individual stocks, actual gambling, cryptocurrency. Money’s gone? I can always earn more, right?

Turned out I was losing 90% of the time. I once wrote on my blog: “If I were the CEO of my own life, I should have fired myself long ago.”

Eventually I learned my lesson. I actually fired myself. Since I don’t have the ability to judge, I use “auto-save”: set up automatic investing, monthly auto-deductions, no need to time the market, remove “me” from the investment equation. The returns definitely won’t be the highest, but it significantly reduces the risk of me accidentally making mistakes and losing all my hard-earned savings.

Diversifying risk is protecting your save files. Not just investments—skills, relationships, income sources, countries of residence all need diversification.

I now write code, write articles, and plan to create content. Not because I’m talented, but because I’m afraid of having only one save slot. If the programming path doesn’t work out, at least I have other saves to load.

Moving to Malaysia is also a kind of save file. If problems arise, I can always go back to Taiwan or the US—I won’t be trapped in one place.

With these save files, I can more courageously try new things.

Thank you to my past self for saving properly. And thank you to my present self for continuing to protect these saves.

Leveling tips

□ Calculate how many months of living expenses you have saved. If it’s less than three months, build up this save file first.
□ List your skills. Which ones are “stored in you” that no one can take away? If too few, consider learning a new one.
□ Check your “save slots”: How many income sources do you have? How many social circles? If each is only one, think about how to diversify.
□ Set up an “auto-save” mechanism: automatic savings transfers, regular backups of important data, scheduled time to record what you’ve learned.
□ Think about what decisions might “overwrite your save.” Health, credit, important relationships—be especially careful with these.