A good gaming and life balance – Tips from Goliath Gaming players

Becoming a professional gamer requires a whole lot of time and dedication. The higher you get up those rankings, the more time you’ve spent gaming. It is always important to maintain a good gaming and real-life balance, even if you are one of the top players in the country.

One of the top esports organizations in South Africa, Goliath Gaming, has shared some fantastic tips from its players. From the likes of their CS:GO team captain, Ruan “ELUSIVE” van Wyk, to FIFA star Julio “Beast” Bianchi and more. These tips are something many prospective esports players in South Africa and beyond might just need, so let’s get started.

Below, you can check out two tips from four Goliath Gaming members. These tips were sent to us, and after going through them, we just had to share.

Ruan “ELUSIVE” van Wyk

Establish a healthy routine – “This is probably the most important for me. Make sure you get enough sleep; eat healthily and roughly at the same time each day; and try to do some form of physical exercise (even if it’s just stretching or star jumps to get your heart pumping) daily.”

Practice with the intent of improving – “Evaluate yourself and your mental state each month and try to improve in areas you’re falling short in. This will ensure you stay effective, motivated and balanced in your gaming and in life in general.”

Adam “adM” Mansoor

Good sleep schedule – “I’ve gone through phases in my gaming career where I’ve neglected my body of sleep or just a poor sleeping schedule, and at the time I could not feel how it was affecting me until I started sleeping properly. Going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier gets me in a good frame of mind. Getting into a better sleeping pattern was my first step to having a better and more balanced lifestyle.”

Working hard and working smart – “Throughout my gaming career, I can say for certain I work really hard. In 2019 and 2020, I worked really hard where I didn’t need to. When I started implementing smarter approaches to my individual work and my team preparation, it freed up a lot of my time to focus on other things outside of the game. I found that by minimising time spent on less important aspects, it made me work with more intent on the tasks that were important for myself or the team (quality vs quantity).”

Julio “Beast” Bianchi

Time management – “Working with a daily or weekly planner is a game-changer. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, it can be an excel document or even a free app to use on the go, just something that allows you to note all your tasks and priorities for gaming or practise, and for day to day life. Life can become busy and overwhelming, and implementing
something like this to help manage your time and get everything you need done will help a lot.”

Personal life and education first (and it takes planning) – “From early on in my gaming career I was clear that my priority would be on personal life and education, and gaming and practise would fall into my schedule after that. Being a 4 th year accounting student, I dedicate my time first to my family and studies, and once that is covered, I dedicate time to my gaming (be it practise sessions or training) – even if it means gaming and training only happens on the weekend or in the evening. If I feel I’m neglecting one aspect of life, I re-adjust my time and how I’m spending it. Planning is crucial.”

Nico “Dweezil” Devonport

Have at least one (or more) other interests you are passionate about – “This allows me to take a break from gaming and the PC, and to reset which is essential and has helped me personally become more consistent and improve overall both in my gaming and in life experiences. These breaks can be on a daily basis or more long term ‘holidays’ like 1-2 weeks. It has also allowed me to meet more people which I’ve enjoyed as they are people I can relate to through my other interests.”

Combining the above with a good routine is key – “Spending time and energy on outside interests within the framework of a good routine prevents me from ‘autopiloting when in my competitive games as I am keen to get on the computer and compete as I haven’t been playing whenever I want to (as I’m sticking to a routine). It really does help properly prepare my mental state of mind and has me keen to engage with my competitive games. Many people are told to just keep putting in time for gaming, which is valid, however, you need be putting in the correct time and maintain the balance. If you put in 100 hours of practice but you are not engaged because you are autopiloting or maybe you’re just ‘going through the motions’, this won’t be as effective as, say, putting in half the time where you are more engaged and excited, leading to better results in gaming and in life.”

It is clearly a good schedule, routine and simply a great balance between gaming and real-life is what the Goliath Gaming players’ tips are all about. Thanks to Goliath Gaming for these eight tips, which might just help many South African gamers.

Don’t forget to follow Goliath Gaming on Twitter, visit their website, like their Facebook page, and check out their YouTube as well as Instagram for some great local content.

Header image via Goliath Gaming.