13 - Karsten Aichholz: Lessons from an Ex-Video Games Addict
Description
My guest on today's show is entrepreneur Karsten Aichholz. Karsten is the founder of an online gaming business who helps casual gamers achieve maximum in-game results with less time investment. Growing up, Karsten has experienced the effects of online game addiction. During high school, he dedicated an average of 6 hours of online play time to games on top of going to school and completing his homework.
Today, Karsten talks about the behaviors that can cause people to become addicted to digital habits, various triggers that are often associated with online game addictions, as well as what inspired him to overcome his addiction and how he did it. We discuss the business ethics within the online gaming industry and he explains why he believes his game addiction throughout high school was the "most productive thing he did" while in school.
Please welcome Karsten Aichholz to the show!
A brief overview of today's episode:
- Why does he believe he was so addicted to EverQuest? What features of the game triggered his addiction?
- Were there any effects to the other areas of his life when he was heavily addicted to the game?
- He explains how his addiction affected previously established relationships and friendships before he began playing EverQuest.
- He admits that it was difficult to break his addiction to online games and shares his story on how he slowly overcame the behavior
- He talks about how he turned his enjoyment of playing online games into a freelance business
- He explains how he branched his online game guide writing business to write guides on other games in addiction to Ever Quest.
- BJ Fogg's behavior model – Behavior = Ability x Motivation x Triggers
- Karsten shares what he believes his triggers were that called him back into EverQuest
- We discuss internal and external triggers associated with Facebook addiction
- He shares his thoughts about the gaming industry business ethics and his beliefs on whether or not gaming companies should regulate the amount of time people spend playing.
- We discuss how the gaming industry is transitioning from "fun" to "fun and healthy" in various ways, including technology and products like Fitbit
- We talk about personal responsibility and awareness
- I share how I personally have combatted my digital addiction with Facebook through various tools and plug-ins that help me monitor my time and activity. These include:
Karsten's Takeaway:
We are not always fully in control, but we can be aware of circumstances that will make change easier. We can recognize when these circumstances crop up and take action.
"It's good to recognize weaknesses and want to change them, but it is also okay to be a less-than-perfect human being." – Karsten Aichholz
Connect with Karsten Aichholz:
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