I, personally, am not a player of video games, yet (like most of us I'm sure) I know plenty of individuals who are highly dedicated to the gaming community at so many different, individual levels. Though I have never taken an individual interest in video games, I always find it fascinating to read and learn about topics outside of my realm of experience and knowledge, which was what piqued my interest most about this title. Prior to having found his account on Instagram (@zoltanandrejkovics) I had never even heard of the term "eSports". However, after having read his eBook, it is clear that this name fits much better than other, conventional, titles. I feel that the term eSports (rather than "online gaming", "professional gaming", "competitive gaming", or "pro gaming") carries with it a higher level of respect and reverence for the amount of skill, focus, and determination it takes to become professionally successful within the eSports community - as detailed by Andrejkovics in his book.
While the premise of the book obviously centers around the eSports community, much of what Andrejkovics outlines as successful skills for gaming apply to many other areas of life. Over the course of the 10 chapters in his book, Andrejkovics touches on topics such as goal setting with intention, preparing mentally for achieving goals or facing obstacles, honing in on tactics and strategies that best help meet our goals, finding and maintaining internal motivators to persevere in the face of hardships, and keeping an open mindset to allow ourselves to be aware and objective in our emotions, actions, and interactions. Throughout my reading of his book, I found myself making connections with what he was speaking about in terms of eSports with aspects from my own personal life (health & fitness, career, relationships, etc.) He outlines many ideas and key concepts for gamers, from which a reader can draw motivational and inspirational quotes that can apply to every day life.
The chapters that spoke most to me were "Sensing" (being mindful of yourself, others, and the world around you), "Emotions" (allowing them to flow, yet channeling them in healthy ways), "Thoughts" (the power that they hold over our mind, body, actions, and reactions), and "Leaders and Captains" (as I found much of what he outlined in this chapter applicable to my life as a teacher). Much of what Andrejkovics discusses in these chapters reminded me heavily of my power yoga practice - ideas on being mindful in order to take an objective account of all areas of our lives in order to make more logical, positive, and growth-inspired decisions. He even incorporates yogic beliefs and ideals into his writing to add depth to a reader's understanding of how far back these concepts have been studied.
In the same vein, Andrejkovics also incorporates metaphors for those (like me) who understand best in more poetic, wordy terms, interdisciplinary connections for those who understand best in cross-curricular terms, hand-drawn visuals for those who understand best in more photographic terms, and also paraphrases from scientific studies for those who understand best in more linear, logical terms. As well, he intersperses quotes - some from well-known individuals - throughout his chapters that add to whatever the focus is for that specific section. Some of the quotes are labeled as to whom originally spoke them. Others, however, were unlabeled, and it was unclear as to whether this meant that they were from quoted anonymously or if they were phrases from Andrejkovics himself.
At the end of the book, Andrejkovics adds a section titled "Key Thoughts" where he has collected the major take-aways from the reading and compiled them into a condensed list for the reader to easily flip back to and review. This list-form of his major concepts from the book help the reader to more concretely grasp the overall purpose of the book and can more readily access these details at any given time, as the need arises for a refresher.
Overall, the book reads similar to a lifestyle/self-help piece that also provides insight into the mentality and motivation behind eSports professionals, as well as those who aspire to be or be like those professionals. On a grander scale, though, it was a good reminder for me (and hopefully for many others) of many traits, mindsets, habits, and behaviors that one can employ every day in order to experience a more motivated, driven, and positive journey through life.
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