I’m a gamer, so like to have goals. I like special missions and objectives. So here’s my special mission for this talk: I’m going to to increase the life span of every single person in this room by and a half minutes. Literally, you will live seven and a half minutes longer than you would otherwise, just because you watched this talk.
Some of you are a little bit skeptical. That’s okay, because check it out — I have math to prove that it possible. It won’t make much sense now. I’ll explain it all later, just pay attention to the at the bottom: +7.68245837 minutes. That will be my gift to if I’m successful in my mission.
Now, you have a secret too. Your mission is to figure out how you want to spend your extra seven and half minutes. And I think you should do something unusual them, because these are bonus minutes. You weren’t going to have them anyway.
Now, I’m a game designer, you might be thinking to yourself, I know what she us to do with those minutes, she wants us to spend playing games. Now this is a totally reasonable assumption, given that have made quite a habit of encouraging people to spend more time playing games. For example, in my TED Talk, I did propose that we should spend 21 hours a week, as a planet, playing video games.
Now, 21 billion hours, it’s a lot time. It’s so much time, in fact, that the one unsolicited comment that I have heard from people all over the since I gave that talk, is this: Jane, games are great and all, but on your deathbed, are really going to wish you spent more time playing Angry Birds?
(Laughter)
This idea is so pervasive — games are a waste of time that we will come to — that I hear it literally everywhere I go. example, true story: Just a few weeks ago, this driver, upon finding out that a friend and I were in town for a game developers’ conference, turned and said — and I quote — “I hate games. Waste of life. Imagine to the end of your life and regretting all time.”
Now, I want to take this problem seriously. I want to be a force for good in the world. don’t want gamers to regret the time they spent playing, time that I encouraged them spend. So I have been thinking about this question lot lately. When we’re on our deathbeds, will we regret the time we playing games?
Now, this may surprise you, but it turns out there is actually some scientific research this question. It’s true. Hospice workers, the people who take care of us at the of our lives, recently issued a report on the most expressed regrets that people say when they are literally their deathbeds. And that’s what I want to share with you today — the top five regrets the dying.
Number one: I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. Number two: I wish had stayed in touch with my friends. Number three: I wish I had let myself happier. Number four: I wish I’d had the courage to express true self. And number five: I wish I’d lived a life true to dreams, instead of what others expected of me.
Now, as as I know, no one ever told one of the workers, “I wish I’d spent more time playing video games,” but when I hear these top regrets of the dying, I can’t help but hear five deep cravings that games actually help us fulfill.
For example, wish I hadn’t worked so hard. For many people, this means, I I’d spent more time with my family, with my kids when they were up. Well, we know that playing games together has tremendous family benefits. A recent study from Young University School of Family Life reported that parents who spend more time playing video games with kids have much stronger real-life relationships with them.
“I wish I’d in touch with my friends.” Hundreds of millions of people use social games FarmVille or Words With Friends to stay in daily contact with real-life friends family. A recent study from the University of Michigan showed these games are incredibly powerful relationship-management tools. They help us connected with people in our social network that we would otherwise distant from, if we weren’t playing games together.
“I I’d let myself be happier.” Well, here I can’t help but think of the groundbreaking clinical recently conducted at East Carolina University that showed that online games can outperform for treating clinical anxiety and depression. Just 30 minutes online game play a day was enough to create boosts in mood and long-term increases in happiness.
“I wish I’d had the courage express my true self.” Well, avatars are a way to express our true selves, our heroic, idealized version of who we might become. You can see that in alter ego portrait by Robbie Cooper of a gamer with avatar. And Stanford University has been doing research for five years now to how playing a game with an idealized avatar changes how we think and act in life, making us more courageous, more ambitious, more committed our goals.
“I wish I’d led a life true to my dreams, and what others expected of me.” Are games doing this yet? I’m sure, so I’ve left a Super Mario question mark. We’re going to come back this one.
But in the meantime, perhaps you’re wondering, who is this game to be talking to us about deathbed regrets? And it’s true, I’ve never worked in a hospice, I’ve never been on deathbed. But recently I did spend three months in bed, to die. Really wanting to die.
Now let me you that story. It started two years ago, when I hit my head and a concussion. The concussion didn’t heal properly, and after 30 days, I left with symptoms like nonstop headaches, nausea, vertigo, memory loss, mental fog. My doctor me that in order to heal my brain, I had to it. So I had to avoid everything that triggered symptoms. For me that meant no reading, no writing, video games, no work or email, no running, no alcohol, caffeine. In other words — and I think you where this is going — no reason to live.
(Laughter)
Of course it’s meant to funny, but in all seriousness, suicidal ideation is quite common with traumatic injuries. It happens to one in three, and it to me. My brain started telling me, “Jane, you to die.” It said, “You’re never going to get better.” It said, “The pain will never end.”
And voices became so persistent and so persuasive that I started to legitimately for my life, which is the time that I said myself after 34 days — and I will never forget this moment — said, “I am either going to kill myself or I’m going to turn into a game.”
Now, why a game? I knew researching the psychology of games for more than a decade when we play a game — and this is in the scientific literature — tackle tough challenges with more creativity, more determination, more optimism, and we’re more likely reach out to others for help. I wanted to bring gamer traits to my real-life challenge, so I created a role-playing recovery called Jane the Concussion Slayer.
Now this became my new identity, and the first thing I did as a was call my twin sister — I have an identical twin sister named — and tell her, “I’m playing a game to heal brain, and I want you to play with me.” This was an easier to ask for help.
She became my first ally in the game, my husband Kiyash joined next, together we identified and battled the bad guys. Now this was anything could trigger my symptoms and therefore slow down the healing process, things like bright lights crowded spaces. We also collected and activated power-ups. This anything I could do on even my worst day to feel just a bit good, just a little bit productive. Things like my dog for 10 minutes, or getting out of bed and walking the block just once.
Now the game was that simple: Adopt secret identity, recruit your allies, battle the bad guys, activate the power-ups. But even a game so simple, within just a couple days starting to play, that fog of depression and anxiety away. It just vanished. It felt like a miracle. it wasn’t a miracle cure for the headaches or the symptoms. That lasted for more than a year, and it the hardest year of my life by far. But when I still had the symptoms, even while I was still pain, I stopped suffering.
Now what happened next with the game surprised me. put up some blog posts and videos online, explaining how to play. But not everybody a concussion, obviously, not everyone wants to be “the slayer,” so I renamed game SuperBetter.
And soon, I started hearing from people all the world who were adopting their own secret identity, recruiting their own allies, and they were “super better,” facing challenges like cancer and chronic pain, depression and Crohn’s disease. people were playing it for terminal diagnoses like ALS. And could tell from their messages and their videos that the was helping them in the same ways that it helped me. They talked about feeling and braver. They talked about feeling better understood by their friends and family. they even talked about feeling happier, even though they were in pain, even though they tackling the toughest challenge of their lives.
Now at the time, I’m to myself, what is going on here? I mean, how could game so trivial intervene so powerfully in such serious, and in cases life-and-death, circumstances? I mean, if it hadn’t worked me, there’s no way I would have believed it was possible. Well, it turns out there’s science here, too. Some people get stronger and happier a traumatic event. And that’s what was happening to us.
The game helping us experience what scientists call post-traumatic growth, which not something we usually hear about. We usually hear post-traumatic stress disorder. But scientists now know that a traumatic event doesn’t us to suffer indefinitely. Instead, we can use it as a springboard to our best qualities and lead happier lives.
Here are top five things that people with post-traumatic growth say: “My priorities changed.” “I’m not afraid to do what makes me happy.” “I feel to my friends and family.” “I understand myself better. I know I really am now.” “I have a new sense of meaning and purpose in life.” “I’m better able to focus on my goals dreams.”
Now, does this sound familiar? It should, because top five traits of post-traumatic growth are essentially the direct opposite of the top five regrets the dying. Now this is interesting, right? It seems that somehow, traumatic event can unlock our ability to lead a with fewer regrets.
But how does it work? How do you get from to growth? Or better yet, is there a way to all the benefits of post-traumatic growth without the trauma, without having to hit head in the first place? That would be good, right?
I to understand the phenomenon better, so I devoured the scientific literature, here’s what I learned. There are four kinds of strength, or resilience, contribute to post-traumatic growth, and there are scientifically validated that you can do every day to build up these kinds of resilience, and you don’t need a trauma to it.
I could tell you what these four types of strength are, but I’d rather experience them firsthand. I’d rather we all start building them up together right now. Here’s we’re going to do. We’ll play a quick game together. is where you earn the seven and a half minutes of life that I promised you earlier. All you have to do is successfully complete first four SuperBetter quests. And I feel like you can do it. I have in you.
So, everybody ready? This is your first quest. Here we go. Pick one: Stand up and take steps, or make your hands into fists, raise them over your as high as you can for five seconds, go! All right, I the people doing both. You are overachievers. Very good.
(Laughter)
Well done, everyone. That worth +1 physical resilience, which means that your body can withstand stress and heal itself faster. We know from the research that number one thing you can do to boost your physical resilience is to sit still. That’s all it takes. Every single second that are not sitting still, you are actively improving the health of heart, and your lungs and brains.
Everybody ready for your quest? I want you to snap your fingers exactly 50 times, or count backwards from 100 by seven, this: 100, 93… Go!
(Snapping)
Don’t give up.
(Snapping)
Don’t let the people counting from 100 interfere with your counting to 50.
(Snapping)
(Laughter)
Nice. Wow. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen that. Bonus resilience. Well done, everyone. Now that’s worth +1 mental resilience, which means you have more focus, more discipline, determination and willpower. We know from the research that willpower actually works like a muscle. It stronger the more you exercise it. So tackling a challenge without giving up, even one as absurd as snapping your fingers exactly 50 times or counting backwards 100 by seven is actually a scientifically validated way to boost willpower.
So good job. Quest number three. Pick one: Because of room, fate’s really determined this for you, but here the two options. If you’re inside, find a window look out of it. If you’re outside, find a window look in. Or do a quick YouTube or Google search for “baby [your favorite animal.]”
Do it on your phones, or just shout some baby animals, and I’ll put them on the screen. So, what we want to see? Sloth, giraffe, elephant, snake. Okay, let’s see what we got. Baby and baby llamas. Everybody look. Got that? Okay, one more. elephant.
(Audience) Oh!
We’re clapping for that? That’s amazing.
(Laughter)
All right, what we’re just feeling is plus-one emotional resilience, which means you have the ability to provoke powerful, positive emotions curiosity or love, which we feel looking at baby animals, when you need them most.
Here’s secret from the scientific literature for you. If you can manage to three positive emotions for every one negative emotion over course of an hour, a day, a week, you dramatically your health and your ability to successfully tackle any problem you’re facing. And this is called the three-to-one emotion ratio. It’s my favorite SuperBetter trick, so keep it up.
All right, pick one, quest: Shake someone’s hand for six seconds, or send someone a quick thank by text, email, Facebook or Twitter. Go!
(Chatting)
Looking good, good. Nice, nice. Keep it up. I love it! right, everybody, that is +1 social resilience, which means you get more strength from your friends, your neighbors, your family, community. Now, a great way to boost social resilience gratitude. Touch is even better.
Here’s one more secret for you: Shaking someone’s hand for seconds dramatically raises the level of oxytocin in your bloodstream, that’s the trust hormone. That means that all of who just shook hands are biochemically primed to like and want to help each other. will linger during the break, so take advantage of the opportunities.
(Laughter)
Well, you have successfully completed your four quests, let’s see if I’ve successfully completed my to give you seven and a half minutes of bonus life. I get to share one more little bit of science with you. It out that people who regularly boost these four types of — physical, mental, emotional and social — live 10 years longer everyone else. So this is true. If you are regularly the three-to-one positive emotion ratio, if you are never sitting still for more than an hour at time, if you are reaching out to one person you about every single day, if you are tackling tiny goals to boost willpower, you will live 10 years longer than everyone else, and here’s that math I showed you earlier comes in.
So, the average expectancy in the U.S. and the U.K. is 78.1 years, but we know from more than 1,000 peer-reviewed studies that you can add 10 years of life boosting your four types of resilience. So every single year that you boosting your four types of resilience, you’re actually earning .128 more of life or 46 more days of life, or 67,298 more minutes of life, means every single day, you are earning 184 minutes of life, or every single that you are boosting your four types of resilience, like just did together, you are earning 7.68245837 more minutes of life.
Congratulations, those seven a half minutes are all yours. You totally earned them.
Yeah!
(Applause)
Awesome. Wait, wait, wait. You still have special mission, your secret mission. How are you going to spend minutes of bonus life?
Well, here’s my suggestion. These seven a half bonus minutes are kind of like genie’s wishes. can use your first wish to wish for a more wishes. Pretty clever, right? So, if you spend these seven a half minutes today doing something that makes you happy, or that gets you physically active, or you in touch with someone you care about, or just tackling a tiny challenge, you’re going to boost resilience, so you’re going to earn more minutes.
And the news is, you can keep going like that. Every of the day, every day of your life, all the way to your deathbed, which will be 10 years later than it would have otherwise. when you get there, more than likely, you will not have any of those top regrets, because you will have built up the strength resilience to lead a life truer to your dreams. with 10 extra years, you might even have enough time to play few more games.
Thank you.
(Applause)