MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Roll the dice and get a life win; spot bonus at work or a friend pays their standing debt; on the next roll, you might be paying your bills or going shopping, which would deduct your funds.
Predictable as these game turns may seem, they reflect real life scenarios beyond the board. You spend, you save, and life happens, but you remain steadfast in achieving your goal. Play for Life: A Game of Choices, the original game by Sun Life Philippines, teaches its players exactly just that.
The gamified approach to financial literacy yields rewards and more importantly, a fun way to learn — anticipating what might come next and having back-up solutions in store. It’s a way of strategizing and engaging with otherwise daunting topics.
Coffee & Play
The rules of the game are simple: you draw cards that correspond to the tile you land on, and these will either help you reach your goal or set you back. From the winners, the strategy is even simpler: either you equip yourself with investments for the long term or you keep taking turns without any assurance when unfortunate cards are drawn consecutively. At a certain point, you have to strike the right choice if a product is worth allocating funds for.
But unlike your ordinary board game, winning Play for Life is not left to chances but the choices you make. For Babes Arlegui, one of the winners during Sun Life’s event Coffee & Play, her objective was to raise PHP 1 million in play money.
Being equipped with products makes for a case of smart spending. In the game as in real life, she was secure because she was prepared. Babes recalled when she had to undergo a delicate surgery so she knew the impact of emergencies.
“Sa umpisa pa lang, nag-purchase na agad ako ng Sun Fit and Well,” (I purchased Sun Fit and Well in the beginning of the game) pointing out how her experience translated into the play. And after cashing in the token which waives the fee for hospitalization, she won the round with PHP 1.1 million in play money.
“Pinaka-wise na decision na kumuha ka talaga ng insurance.” (It’s still the wisest decision to get yourself insured.)
What’s cooking?
At Coffee & Play, select entrepreneurs and Sun Life clients experienced the business owners’ edition of Play for Life while also learning from a successful entrepreneur himself, Chef Tatung Sarthou.
Chef Tatung shared his non-linear journey while giving practical tips in the kitchen that also apply in real life. Themes of balance, risk, and managing resources rose from the discussion.
“There’s no simple way to ensure success in your life,” he shared. As a chef, he has made his mark and accomplished a lot — from his food concepts of Pandan Asian Café, Tatung’s Private Dining, Lore, Azadorem and Tindeli, to his digital cooking show Simpol — one thing sets the bar, excellence which to him is “having the right attitude, the right drive, the capacity to stand up after every failure.”
“Success should happen by design.”
Planning ahead gives you the liberty of choosing, and for Chef Tatung, planning is not enough, you must plan thoroughly. Before a problem happens, you already manage the risks because you’ve exercised foresight. “The only way to make things work is to think things [through] from start to finish.”
In his case, he grew his assets so he can rely on them to fall back on instead of spending cash on things he could flex. That is not to discount the hard work that goes into the process but being more efficient in harvesting the fruits of his labor, “Invest your money in something that is able to produce more money.”
Partner for Life
“By providing financial advice and solutions, we aim to help you fulfill not just your personal life goals but also your aspirations for your business,” said Renee Co, Market Segment Manager at Sun Life Philippines.
Throughout the event, the game’s best element showed: the players with whom you experience life. Chef Tatung spoke on the importance of having leaders, visionaries, problem-solvers, and hard workers by his side in order to grow. A visionary himself, Chef Tatung said how he is at a point in his career where faith and confidence lead him into building his organization’s ecosystem that can help him scale rapidly for the future.
“In this day and age, we really look for people with integrity, people who are reliable, and people who have a track record because mahirap magkamali ngayon. And through the years, nakikita natin na if you invest time, energy, effort with the wrong people, it can be more costly.”
“If you make a mistake, sometimes it takes years before you’re able to recover,” he added while relating to his capacity as a chef and as a business owner. Whereas his chef’s hat would worry about the day’s menu, his business owner side would think about where to invest, when to gamble, and who to hire.
“It becomes very complicated and your decisions tend to become more impactful in the sense that you’re making more strategic than operational decisions,” he explained.
“It’s very important you have the right people,” being those who you can communicate and sit down with, and solve problems together.
Playing to Win
As it is the test drive for real-life situations, Play for Life not only breathes tactility to concepts in financial literacy but simulates an experience of financial wellness when you hit your goal. Whether you emerge the winner or not, you know how to make brighter choices to get you closer to your goal the next time around.
With his tremendous mindset for growth, Chef Tatung says he is still maturing from his decisions in his adolescence as a businessman. “Now I know better than I knew the year before… I know how to win in the coming years, I’ve learned how to win.”
Games may feed on the compulsion of accomplishment but with products and services at the ready, you do not just win but you enjoy the process too. Ultimately, an attainable goal, sound decision-making, and a wiggle-room for unpredictability are what give you the upper hand not just at the game but also in life.
As Chef Tatung instills in his people, mediocrity is not an option for life. “We play to win, not just to get by.”
Set your goal and make bright choices with Sun Life’s original game, Play for Life: A Game of Choices at sunlife.co/PlayForLife. Ready to level up your financial journey? Get in touch with a Sun Life advisor at www.sunlife.co/TalkToAnAdvisor for a free consultation today.
