SuperBetter

All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; -Jaques, in Shakespeare's As You Like It

Play. We started playing as a way to find our own feet, to learn to talk, to imitate our parents and siblings, as a way to hone our skills, to get in shape, to while away extra time, to reduce our stress.

What if? What if play could also help us accomplish goals, improvements in out life, connect more deeply with others?

That's something that is very possible through gamification. If that is a new word for you, you aren't alone. Data shows that gamification became widely used just within the past 20 years.

There is a book that tackles the idea of gamification and uses it to change your habits, reduce stress, ease the physical impact of trauma... and just might be the ticket to you keeping to your New Year's Resolutions (whatever they may be).

It's SuperBetter, by Jane McGonigal.

There's a TED Talk you may enjoy:

And of course, there is an app for it, too. (I am not an affiliate and earn nothing through purchase of the app , book, course, or what have you)

The Premise

Many role play and online games use similar precepts: the first few rounds/levels are easy and meant to build confidence. Then there are special challenges to stretch your skills, rewards to be found/earned, and BIG dangers to overcome/vanquish.

These are the same premises to following the SuperBetter method.

• PowerUps improve you health and keep you in the game.
• Bad Guys are sneaky and must be overcome for you to succeed.
• Quests give you short term goals and real accomplishment once they are overcome.
• Tracking your progress/keeping score gives that shot of dopamine that keeps you in the game.
• Input from your team/allies reminds you that you aren't alone and that others have your back.

Try it Out

Many writers make a pledge to themselves/the world to write x number of times a week. Gamifying this resolution may help you keep that pledge and have a Good Day. A Good Day is SuperBetter defined as

3 Power-ups + 1 Bad Guy battled + 1 Quest completed = 1 Good Day

1. Identify your PowerUps. What are things that give you the boost you need to honor this pledge? Your goal is to identify and 'collect' three of these each day.

• It can be as simple as taking five deep cleansing breaths.
• Or perhaps powering off your phone when you sit down to write.
• Maybe you enter writing time into your schedule.
• Perhaps you get to have a cup of coffee once you hit so many words/hit submit?
• Maybe you use a nice hand lotion or light a candle that you enjoy to remind you of the sweet smell of success.
• You can read other writer's work and leave them encouraging comments. Encouraging others is a PowerUp, too.

2. Identify your Bad Guys- what can trip you up, block your progress, or cause you pain? Your goal is to battle at least one of these each day. How about:

• The Too-Headed Monster? It tells you you are too old, it's too late to start, you are too lazy, etc.
• The Busy Bee? It buzzes through your mind constantly telling you you can't add one more thing to your day.

After identifying it you can reliably battle it just as you would when working through a game level where a monster lurks. You can Avoid it, resist it, adapt to it, challenge it, or rephrase it and make it a new PowerUp. You can find those examples and more here.

3. Take on a Quest. It's something you can accomplish within 24 hours, and the best Quests impact one of the following resiliencies, which can be found in the book and here:

• Mental resilience — tense one specific muscle and then relax; research shows an effect called “embodied cognition,” when a strong body cues a strong brain.

• Social resilience — sharing a dream you’ve had with someone; sharing and discussing a dream boosts trust and increases intimacy with the other person.

• Physical resilience: hum a tune for sixty seconds; humming increases nitric oxide levels in your nose and sinus cavities which in turn produces less inflammation there, meaning fewer headaches, allergies, colds, asthma attacks or infections.

4. Gather your allies. It has been said that going alone allows you to go quickly, and that going together enables you to travel farther. Said another way, and reminding me of a former coworker: "You can grow exhausted by spinning your wheels and getting nowhere fast". Allies are important.

Allies can keep you accountable, give you encouragement, remind you of your mission, and even do their own small quests to help you.

If your goal is to publish three times a week, your allies might help by reviewing your content and providing feedback, suggest prompts to fuel your creativity, or check in with you each day. These can keep you going and prepare you for the Epic Victory or achieving your goal.

I encourage you to find out more from the SuperBetter book, website, Ted Talk, and app. If you decide to gamify your journey towards a goal this year I hope you write about it and invite you to share links to your SuperBetter content in the comments.

Let me know: Have you used gamification before? What is your favorite game? How do you use dopamine to meet your goals?

This is the second post on Resolutions, New Years or otherwise. You may also enjoy this short poem:

and this new way to approach the year through Facebook Memories: