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