1: When Phillip Jeffrey was 25 years old, he was diagnosed with a rare, incurable blood cancer. For the next six years, he underwent many rounds of chemotherapy.

Then, he had a stroke in the area of his brain responsible for vision.

“Losing vision is traumatic for anyone, but it was especially so for Phillip, whose greatest passion in life is photography,”  Jane McGonigal writes in her book SuperBetter: The … continue reading

1: Why do you procrastinate?  What can you do to procrastinate less?

Those were the questions a group of psychologists at DePaul University and Case Western University set out to answer.

So they set up an experiment.  Half of the participants were invited to “take a math test.”  The other half were invited to “play a math game.”

“In reality, the test and the game were the exact same activity,” … continue reading

1: Do you want to unlock untapped sources of motivation, energy, and willpower?

The answer is actually quite simple.

You start by identifying your values.

Then you take actions aligned with those values.

“Research shows that when action is guided by values, it’s vastly easier to accomplish feats that would seem impossible otherwise,” Jane McGonigal writes in her book SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully.

This holds true, Jane … continue reading

1: In July of 2009, game designer and PhD Jane McGonigal suffered a severe concussion.

“There is no known effective therapy or treatment for post-concussion syndrome,” Jane writes in her book SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully.

She was on total cognitive rest.  “I literally had nothing to do.  ‘Rest and wait’ is the only prescription,” she recalls.  “Which meant I couldn’t do anything that stimulated my brain: No … continue reading

1: Imagine you were to experience back pain and disability after an acute back injury.

Turns out you will likely fall into one of two distinct groups.

“Researchers have known for years that some people who experience acute back pain recover successfully and lead full lives, while others experience ongoing pain that eventually leads to disability,” Jane McGonigal writes in her book SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully.

What … continue reading

“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” —T. S. Eliot

1: You have a goal.

You will likely encounter obstacles or challenges that you must overcome to reach your goal.

Game designer and PhD Jane McGonigal calls these “The bad guys.”

Bad guys test us and make things tough, creating challenges to overcome.

There are always bad guys in the games we … continue reading

1: What’s the secret to a happy marriage?

Want to be thought of as more creative and effective at work?

Would you like to be less vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder?

Research shows there’s a simple way to increase the likelihood of these outcomes.

How? Simply increase the ratio of positive to negative emotions in your life.

“A myriad of studies show that having more positive emotions, … continue reading

1: What if you could feel better anytime, anyplace, no matter what?

And not only that, but you could also live ten years longer.

Sounds good, right?

How do you do this? The answer is found in an unexpected place,  Jane McGonigal writes in her book SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully.

Chances are, if you are a gamer, you know about power-ups.

“They’re the bonus items that … continue reading

1: Turns out anxiety and excitement are the exact same emotion.

Physiologically, that is. Which just means how your body operates.

“Whether you are anxious about something or excited about it, your body responds in a nearly identical ‘high arousal’ state,” Jane McGonigal writes in her book SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully.

How does your body react?

“You have excess energy, you may feel butterflies in your stomach, … continue reading

1: “I’m getting close to retiring and, frankly, it is scaring the bejesus out of me,” says Dennis, who is sixty-six and lives in rural Kansas.

“For the past forty years, Dennis has worked in higher education, overseeing grant programs for low-income students and serving as their academic adviser,” Jane McGonigal writes in her book  SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully.

“I’ve worked hard to help underprepared students find … continue reading