Once in a while, you just need to allow yourself to start the game over.Like many of you, I grew up in the early days of video gaming. We all knew that guy or girl that was the first to get an Atari, Sega, or Nintendo game system -- and their house instantly became THE place to hangout. Most video games have some level of competition, whether it be against another player or yourself. And in most cases, a player's mastery of the nuances of a particular game are rewarded by increased points/higher scores, harder levels, and unlocking new achievements.I remember that there was always that kid (often it was the one hosting the afternoon's game-a-thon) who felt they could hit the reset button on the console whenever things were not going their way during their turn. This would be perfectly acceptable if you were playing by yourself without guests or friends in attendance. But hitting the reset button without first getting buy-in from another player was probably the most egregious form of video gaming faux pas you could commit (and #2 was knowingly giving your guest the "broken" controller). For those uninformed Friends, the Unsanctioned Video Game Reset was almost on the level of double-dipping in terms of the reaction it would get. Not only did it unfairly restart the game and disrupt head-to-head play (and in the process ruin someone else's game), it usually gave the resetter more time to play during their turn (because they were holding a controller). Because it was kind of a form of cheating, people grew to hate the serial resetter (I can see a bunch of you nodding....).I found that this unwritten code stuck with me into adulthood. It seemed pretty evident to me that there were no do-overs in life, and if you did somehow get the chance to hit reset, you would be unfairly cutting corners. I always operated under the premise that you play the game until you master the necessary levels.Recently, however, I found that my point of view on this changed. We were having a dinnertime discussion with our teenagers about the promise of the upcoming school year and reviewing outcomes and missteps of past years. As teens do, they shared their angst about the consequences of decisions they had made (and not made), grades they had received, words said to friends that damaged relationships, and general frustration regarding their lack of mastery of behaviors that would lead to more favorable outcomes.That is when the topic of hitting life's reset button once again presented itself. Except this time, I found myself suggesting to my kids that perhaps they should look at that the upcoming new school year as an opportunity to start with a clean slate. While they cannot change the past, they can certainly learn from it. So instead of hand wringing about how their game was going, why not use the last days of summer vacation to reflect on how they would do things differently, hit reset and start over if needed?Look, don't we all deserve a Sanctioned Game Reset from time to time? Whether it be in a current role, our careers, our working at a particular company, in our relationships with others -- sometimes we know our game is not going quite the way we want it to go. Instead of just prolonging the agony, playing out our turn and not getting what we want from the time spent, it seems to me that, as long as it is sanctioned and not serial, having the courage to hit the reset button can be a good thing once in a while. It may mean we take a longer road to get back to the level we were once at or where we think we should be -- but no doubt we can improve our overall journey and mastery of the Game along the way. One other way to improve your journey -- check out the stories I included in this week's edition. Trust me when I say that each was carefully selected to maximize your ability to Level Up in one way or another. Enjoy!XOXODave