“Games are not just a source of entertainment. They are a model of how to become the best version of ourselves,” game designer and researcher Jane McGonigal writes in her book SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully.
Last week, we explored how Jane created a game (later called SuperBetter) to help her recovery from a concussion. Following her injury, she was plagued by suicidal thoughts. As a PhD and an experienced game designer, she had an intuition that playing a game could help her heal.
It worked.
“It felt like a miracle to me,” Jane writes. “It wasn’t a miracle cure for the headaches or the cognitive symptoms—they lasted more than a year, and it was the hardest year of my life by far. But even when I still had the symptoms, even while I was still in pain, I stopped suffering.”
She then shared a video about her experience and how to play. As a result, more than 1,000,000 people have now used the SuperBetter game framework to tackle a myriad of life’s challenges, from finding a better job to having a more satisfying love life, running a marathon, starting their own company, and simply enjoying life more.
“To lead a more gameful life,” she writes, “you simply have to be open to learning about the psychology of games—and be willing to experiment with new ways of thinking and acting that can help you increase your natural resilience.”
What does Jane believe is the fastest way to see how playing a game can impact your life?
By playing a game.
Which is what we are going to do.
“I challenge you to complete four life-changing quests in the next five minutes,” she writes.
“Don’t worry, it’s easier than it sounds,” Jane promises. “I’ve watched some amazing people complete the same four quests you’re about to undertake—including Oprah Winfrey, legendary skateboarder and entrepreneur Tony Hawk, and Colonel Bat Masterson, the surgeon general for the U.S. Armed Forces.
If they can do it, you can do it, too,” she says. “I guarantee that if you successfully complete them all, roughly five minutes from now, you will already be a stronger person—mentally, emotionally, physically, and socially.”
Ready to play? Let’s do this. The game starts NOW.
Here are Jane’s instructions: “Here’s your first life-changing quest. I want you to complete it, right now, before you read any further. Do not skip this first quest. I repeat: DO NOT SKIP THIS QUEST.
QUEST #1: Physical Resilience
Pick one: Stand up and take three steps, or make your hands into fists and hold them over your head as high as you can for five seconds.
Ready, set, go!
“Did you do it?” Jane asks.
Well done! By completing this quest, you’ve just boosted your physical resilience.
What is physical resilience? It’s your body’s “ability to handle stress and heal itself,” she says. “Research shows the best way to boost physical resilience is not to sit still.
“Whenever you sit still for more than a few minutes, your body starts to shut down at the metabolic level. This shutdown negatively impacts every aspect of your health, from your immune system to your ability to handle stress.”
When you aren’t sitting still, you are boosting the health of your heart, lungs, and brain.
“You’ll have more energy and sleep better, too—which is crucial when you’re facing a hard challenge, even if it isn’t primarily physical in nature.”
Jane’s recommendation: “Stand up for just one second. Take three steps. Throw your arms in the air. That’s all it takes. You are now physically stronger than you were thirty seconds ago.”
Next up…
QUEST #2: Mental Resilience
Pick one: Snap your fingers exactly fifty times or count backward from 100 by 7, like this: 100, 93… all the way to at least 0.
Ready, set, go!
All done?
Good work. By completing this quest, you’ve just increased your mental resilience.
What is mental resilience? It’s your drive, focus, and willpower—strengths you need to reach your goals.
“Researchers have figured out that willpower is like a muscle,” Jane writes. “It gets stronger the more you exercise it—as long as you don’t exhaust it.
“Accomplishing tiny challenges—even ones as absurd as snapping your fingers exactly fifty times or counting backward by seven—helps you exercise this muscle without wearing it out.”
When tougher challenges present themselves, enhancing our mental resilience increases the likelihood that we will have the motivation and determination to push through and succeed.
Congratulations! You are now mentally stronger than you were a minute ago.
Onward!
QUEST #3: Emotional Resilience
Pick one: If you’re inside, find a window and look outside for thirty seconds.
If you’re outside, find a window and look in, or do a Google Image or YouTube video search for “baby [your favorite animal].”
Ready, set, go!
Did you accomplish the mission?
Great! By completing this quest, you’ve just strengthened your emotional resilience.
What is emotional resilience? It is your ability to feel positive emotions whenever you want. No matter how you feel—stressed, bored, angry, or in pain—if you have emotional resilience, you can choose to feel something positive instead.
Jane explains: “Emotional resilience is a particularly important strength. Research has shown that if, on average, people experience more positive emotions than negative ones, they gain a huge range of benefits.”
For example, “they’re more creative at solving problems. They’re more ambitious and successful at school and at work. They’re less likely to give up when things are hard. People around them are more likely to offer help and support them in their goals.”
It’s not about eliminating negative emotions. That simply won’t work. Instead, we need enough positive emotions during our day to outnumber the negative ones.
“Both options in this quest are scientifically validated methods for provoking a specific positive emotion,” Jane writes. “Looking through a window provokes curiosity—the positive emotion that psychologists define as ‘a desire to gratify the mind with new information or objects of interest. . .
“Meanwhile,” she notes, “researchers have demonstrated that looking at photos or videos of baby animals is all it takes to make virtually anyone feel the emotion of love. Better yet, this quick burst of love from looking at baby animals doesn’t just feel good, it also improves attention and productivity.”
Having completed this emotional quest, it’s time for the final challenge.
QUEST #4: Social Resilience
Pick one: Shake or hold someone’s hand for at least six seconds. Or send someone you know a quick thank-you by text, email, or Facebook message.
Ready, set, GO!
All done?
“Awesome,” Jane writes. “By completing this quest, you’ve boosted your social resilience.”
What is social resilience?
It’s “the ability to get support from friends, family members, neighbors, and co-workers,” she explains. “You’re able to ask for the help you need—and you’re more likely to receive it.
“Social support is crucial to tackling challenges successfully,” Jane shares. “You can try to go it alone, but your odds of success are vastly improved when someone else has your back. There are lots of ways to increase your social resilience.”
Both touch and gratitude, the two methods in this challenge, are effective in boosting social resilience.
When you shake or hold someone’s hand for at least six seconds, it increases the level of the “trust hormone,” oxytocin, in both of your bloodstreams.
“Boosted oxytocin levels make you want to help and protect each other,” Jane explains. “The more oxytocin you release together, the stronger your bond.”
Also, Jane notes, “expressing thanks is one of the most reliable ways to cultivate good feelings and a closer connection. Gratitude is the single most important relationship-strengthening emotion because, as researchers explain, ‘it requires us to see how we’ve been supported and affirmed by other people.'”
More tomorrow.
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Reflection: What small, intentional “quest” could I introduce into my day to strengthen my resilience right now?
Action: Complete the four resilience quests today.
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