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