I think it's a bit funny how well we've (accidentally!!!) modelled real life into video games, yet people actually think it's the opposite way around.
The only difference is that games are designed, whereas life is...??? I'm a (loose as forget) Catholic, so take that for what it's worth. In terms of the game thing, though, games are really just structured activities designed to reward and punish you for learning, practising and demonstrating a specific set of related skills. If you go ahead and add that structure to your day-to-day routine, suddenly you're "in the game".