Last week I was watching Survivor 49.

If you've never seen the show, here's the setup: strangers are dropped on an island. They compete. They strategize. They vote each other out. One person wins a million dollars.

It's a game. With a prize.

But host Jeff Probst said something that stopped me cold.

He was speaking to a contestant named Christina, who had just shared a deeply emotional moment about her mother. And what he said applies to far more than a reality TV show.

Here's what Probst observed:

Christina's response was just as powerful:

Read that again.

The game is the lure.
The experience is the prize.

You have to play the game to have the experience.

And the transformation? That's what's actually happening.

Now. I know some of you might bristle at that phrase.

"Life isn't a game, Coach. It's serious. It matters. There are real stakes."

I get it. And I'm not asking you to agree with me.

I'm asking you to suspend judgment for a moment. Just long enough to see if there's something here worth considering.

Speaking of games. Yesterday my daughter Bethany turned 26.

And whenever I think about games, I think of her.

She grew up an athlete. Phenomenal softball player and basketball player. Got the opportunity to play softball in college at the University of Chicago. Extremely intelligent.

But she also immerses herself in gaming culture and role play. Minecraft. SimCity. Dungeons and Dragons. Countless others.

And here's what I've noticed about Bethany:

More than anyone in my life, she understands both being an architect and a player.

She's equally comfortable designing worlds and participating in them. Building the game and playing it. Creating the rules and navigating within them.

Maybe she hasn't fully realized it yet. But this has been preparing her for life all along.

Because what do we do as kids? We play pretend. We fantasize. We imagine. We create entire worlds and then step into them.

And somewhere along the way, most of us stop.

We stop designing. We just react to what's in front of us.

But not Bethany. She kept practicing. And in doing so, she's been rehearsing for the real thing.

I had a conversation with a coaching client recently about imagination. About how it's not just daydreaming. It's a creative force. Everything starts as a thought. Every business. Every relationship. Every next chapter.

What if we started trusting our imagination more? What if we treated life like a game we were actively designing?

What if you approached life as a game you were both the architect and the player of?

This is the heart of what I call Fit Around.

Most of us were taught to fit in. To play a game we didn't design.

But what if you stopped trying to fit into life and started building a life that fits around you?

You're both. The one who designs the game. And the one who plays it.

Maybe you set a goal this year and hit it. Maybe you set a goal and didn't.

But did you notice what happened to you along the way?

The conversation that shifted something. The failure that cracked you open. The relationship that deepened because you showed up. The moment you surprised yourself with your own courage.

Years from now, you probably won't remember every task you completed in Q3.

But you might remember the Tuesday you finally said the hard thing. The call where someone saw you. The choice that scared you but changed you.

That's the real prize.

And you only get it because you played the game.

As we enter December, I'm asking myself:

What did this year actually give me?

Not the outcomes.
Not the scorecard.
Not the revenue or the results.

What experience did I have while playing this game called 2025?

I've done dozens of Purpose Factor® reviews this year. Sat with people as they discovered the algorithm behind their most fulfilled moments. Watched anxiety drop and clarity rise in real time.

But what I received wasn't just their breakthroughs.

It was my own transformation. Every person who trusted me with their truth made me more of who I'm becoming.

That's the experience. That's the real prize.

As the year winds down, try this:

Don't just list your accomplishments. Don't just measure what you achieved or didn't.

Ask yourself:

What experience did I have while playing the game this year?

What transformation happened that I almost missed because I was too focused on the prize?

What moment will I never forget. Not because it was productive. But because it was real?

The goal got you there. But the experience is what you get to keep.

Until next week,

-Coach Reg

P.S. If you're sensing that something wants to shift as you enter a new year. If you're ready to stop squeezing into a game someone else designed and start building one that fits around who you actually are. That's what the Purpose Factor® Assessment is for.

A 45-page personalized report. A one-hour clarity call with me. Language for what you've been doing all along but couldn't name.

Not so you can win a different game.

So you can finally understand the one you've already been playing.

👉 Claim your spot here

Quote from Survivor 49 (CBS). Used with appreciation for Jeff Probst and the show's insight into what the game of life is really about.

SPARK Insights™

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