WEBVTT 00:00:00.598 --> 00:00:04.630 I'm a gamer, so I like to have goals. 00:00:04.630 --> 00:00:09.158 I like special missions and secret objectives. 00:00:09.158 --> 00:00:12.318 So here's my special mission for this talk: 00:00:12.318 --> 00:00:15.265 I'm going to try to increase the life span 00:00:15.265 --> 00:00:17.598 of every single person in this room 00:00:17.598 --> 00:00:19.854 by seven and a half minutes. 00:00:19.854 --> 00:00:23.126 Literally, you will live seven and half minutes longer 00:00:23.126 --> 00:00:24.406 than you would have otherwise, 00:00:24.406 --> 00:00:26.070 just because you watched this talk. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:26.070 --> 00:00:29.526 Okay, some of you are looking a little bit skeptical. 00:00:29.526 --> 00:00:31.189 That's okay, because check it out -- 00:00:31.189 --> 00:00:33.702 I have math to prove that it is possible. 00:00:33.702 --> 00:00:35.575 And it won't make a lot of sense now. 00:00:35.575 --> 00:00:37.024 I'll explain it all later, 00:00:37.024 --> 00:00:38.976 just pay attention to the number at the bottom: 00:00:38.976 --> 00:00:42.237 plus-7.68245837 minutes 00:00:42.237 --> 00:00:46.205 that will be my gift to you if I'm successful in my mission. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:46.205 --> 00:00:48.934 Now, you have a secret mission too. 00:00:48.934 --> 00:00:52.934 Your mission is to figure out how you want to spend your 00:00:52.934 --> 00:00:54.998 extra seven and a half minutes. 00:00:54.998 --> 00:00:57.335 And I think you should do something unusual with them, 00:00:57.335 --> 00:01:00.318 because these are bonus minutes. You weren't going to have them anyway. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:00.318 --> 00:01:04.702 Now, because I'm a game designer, you might be thinking to yourself, 00:01:04.702 --> 00:01:06.998 I know what she wants us to do with those minutes, 00:01:06.998 --> 00:01:09.518 she wants us to spend them playing games. 00:01:09.518 --> 00:01:12.222 Now this is a totally reasonable assumption, 00:01:12.222 --> 00:01:14.838 given that I have made quite a habit of encouraging people 00:01:14.838 --> 00:01:16.654 to spend more time playing games. 00:01:16.654 --> 00:01:18.477 For example, in my first TEDTalk, 00:01:18.477 --> 00:01:23.030 I did propose that we should spend 21 billion hours a week 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:25.246 as a planet playing video games. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:25.246 --> 00:01:28.150 Now, 21 billion hours, it's a lot of time. 00:01:28.150 --> 00:01:32.967 It's so much time, in fact, that the number one unsolicited comment 00:01:32.967 --> 00:01:35.269 that I have heard from people all over the world 00:01:35.269 --> 00:01:37.150 since I gave that talk, is this: 00:01:37.150 --> 00:01:41.255 Jane, games are great and all, but on your deathbed, 00:01:41.255 --> 00:01:45.005 are you really going to wish you spent more time playing Angry Birds? 00:01:45.005 --> 00:01:49.614 This idea is so pervasive -- that games are a waste of time 00:01:49.614 --> 00:01:53.167 that we will come to regret -- that I hear it literally everywhere I go. 00:01:53.167 --> 00:01:55.990 For example, true story: Just a few weeks ago, 00:01:55.990 --> 00:01:59.878 this cab driver, upon finding out that a friend and I were in town 00:01:59.878 --> 00:02:01.534 for a game developer's conference, 00:02:01.534 --> 00:02:03.799 turned around and said -- and I quote -- 00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:09.542 "I hate games. Waste of life. Imagine getting to the end of your life 00:02:09.542 --> 00:02:12.104 and regretting all that time." NOTE Paragraph 00:02:12.104 --> 00:02:15.194 Now, I want to take this problem seriously. 00:02:15.194 --> 00:02:17.614 I mean, I want games to be a force for good in the world. 00:02:17.614 --> 00:02:20.534 I don't want gamers to regret the time they spent playing, 00:02:20.534 --> 00:02:22.584 time that I encouraged them to spend. 00:02:22.584 --> 00:02:25.710 So I have been thinking about this question a lot lately. 00:02:25.710 --> 00:02:29.230 When we're on our deathbeds, will we regret 00:02:29.230 --> 00:02:31.182 the time we spent playing games? NOTE Paragraph 00:02:31.182 --> 00:02:34.150 Now, this may surprise you, but it turns out 00:02:34.150 --> 00:02:37.774 there is actually some scientific research on this question. 00:02:37.774 --> 00:02:39.958 It's true. Hospice workers, 00:02:39.958 --> 00:02:42.814 the people who take care of us at the end of our lives, 00:02:42.814 --> 00:02:47.677 recently issued a report on the most frequently expressed regrets 00:02:47.677 --> 00:02:51.709 that people say when they are literally on their deathbeds. 00:02:51.709 --> 00:02:53.958 And that's what I want to share with you today -- 00:02:53.958 --> 00:02:58.810 the top five regrets of the dying. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:58.810 --> 00:03:05.798 Number one: I wish I hadn't worked so hard. 00:03:05.798 --> 00:03:11.751 Number two: I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. 00:03:11.751 --> 00:03:17.604 Number three: I wish I had let myself be happier. 00:03:17.604 --> 00:03:24.007 Number four: I wish I'd had the courage to express my true self. 00:03:24.007 --> 00:03:27.411 And number five: I wish I'd lived a life true to my dreams, 00:03:27.411 --> 00:03:32.137 instead of what others expected of me. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:32.137 --> 00:03:35.326 Now, as far as I know, no one ever told one of the hospice workers, 00:03:35.326 --> 00:03:38.125 I wish I'd spent more time playing video games, 00:03:38.125 --> 00:03:41.310 but when I hear these top five regrets of the dying, 00:03:41.310 --> 00:03:44.126 I can't help but hear five deep human cravings 00:03:44.126 --> 00:03:46.150 that games actually help us fulfill. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:46.150 --> 00:03:48.845 For example, I wish I hadn't worked so hard. 00:03:48.845 --> 00:03:51.142 For many people, this means, I wish I'd spent more time 00:03:51.142 --> 00:03:53.854 with my family, with my kids when they were growing up. 00:03:53.854 --> 00:03:57.098 Well, we know that playing games together has tremendous 00:03:57.098 --> 00:03:58.462 family benefits. 00:03:58.462 --> 00:04:00.766 A recent study from Brigham Young University 00:04:00.766 --> 00:04:03.462 School of Family life reported that parents who 00:04:03.462 --> 00:04:05.822 spend more time playing video games with their kids 00:04:05.822 --> 00:04:10.898 have much stronger real-life relationships with them. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:10.898 --> 00:04:12.816 I wish I'd stayed in touch with my friends. 00:04:12.816 --> 00:04:14.806 Well, hundreds of millions of people 00:04:14.806 --> 00:04:18.056 use social games like FarmVille or Words With Friends 00:04:18.056 --> 00:04:21.169 to stay in daily contact with real-life friends and family. 00:04:21.169 --> 00:04:25.384 A recent study from [University of Michigan] showed 00:04:25.384 --> 00:04:28.742 that these games are incredibly powerful 00:04:28.742 --> 00:04:30.845 relationship-management tools. 00:04:30.845 --> 00:04:35.078 They help us stay connected with people in our social network 00:04:35.078 --> 00:04:37.262 that we would otherwise grow distant from, 00:04:37.262 --> 00:04:39.295 if we weren't playing games together. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:39.295 --> 00:04:41.670 I wish I'd let myself be happier. 00:04:41.670 --> 00:04:44.838 Well, here I can't help but think of the groundbreaking clinical trials 00:04:44.838 --> 00:04:47.694 recently conducted at East Carolina University 00:04:47.694 --> 00:04:50.878 that showed that online games can outperform 00:04:50.878 --> 00:04:54.342 pharmaceuticals for treating clinical anxiety and depression. 00:04:54.342 --> 00:04:57.871 Just 30 minutes of online game play a day 00:04:57.871 --> 00:05:00.766 was enough to create dramatic boosts in mood 00:05:00.766 --> 00:05:03.733 and long-term increases in happiness. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:03.733 --> 00:05:07.941 I wish I'd had the courage to express my true self. 00:05:07.941 --> 00:05:11.862 Well, avatars are a way to express our true selves, 00:05:11.862 --> 00:05:14.886 our most heroic, idealized version of who we might become. 00:05:14.886 --> 00:05:18.678 You can see that in this alter ego portrait by Robbie Cooper 00:05:18.678 --> 00:05:20.990 of a gamer with his avatar. 00:05:20.990 --> 00:05:24.854 And Stanford University has been doing research for five years now 00:05:24.854 --> 00:05:28.542 to document how playing a game with an idealized avatar 00:05:28.542 --> 00:05:31.291 changes how we think and act in real life, 00:05:31.291 --> 00:05:34.591 making us more courageous, more ambitious, 00:05:34.591 --> 00:05:38.540 more committed to our goals. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:38.540 --> 00:05:40.390 I wish I'd led a life true to my dreams, 00:05:40.390 --> 00:05:42.398 and not what others expected of me. 00:05:42.398 --> 00:05:44.134 Are games doing this yet? I'm not sure, 00:05:44.134 --> 00:05:46.746 so I've left a question mark, a Super Mario question mark. 00:05:46.746 --> 00:05:48.790 And we're going to come back to this one. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:48.790 --> 00:05:52.278 But in the mean time, perhaps you're wondering, 00:05:52.278 --> 00:05:56.044 who is this game designer to be talking to us 00:05:56.044 --> 00:05:57.284 about deathbed regrets? 00:05:57.284 --> 00:06:00.674 And it's true, I've never worked in a hospice, 00:06:00.674 --> 00:06:03.169 I've never been on my deathbed. 00:06:03.169 --> 00:06:09.467 But recently I did spend three months in bed, wanting to die. 00:06:09.467 --> 00:06:11.897 Really wanting to die. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:11.897 --> 00:06:13.689 Now let me tell you that story. 00:06:13.689 --> 00:06:17.346 It started two years ago, when I hit my head and got a concussion. 00:06:17.346 --> 00:06:19.425 Now the concussion didn't heal properly, 00:06:19.425 --> 00:06:23.323 and after 30 days I was left with symptoms like nonstop headaches, 00:06:23.323 --> 00:06:26.085 nausea, vertigo, memory loss, mental fog. 00:06:26.085 --> 00:06:29.073 My doctor told me that in order to heal my brain, 00:06:29.073 --> 00:06:30.441 I had to rest it. 00:06:30.441 --> 00:06:32.690 So I had to avoid everything that triggered my symptoms. 00:06:32.690 --> 00:06:35.673 For me that meant no reading, no writing, no video games, 00:06:35.673 --> 00:06:38.406 no work or email, no running, no alcohol, no caffeine. 00:06:38.406 --> 00:06:40.857 In other words -- and I think you see where this is going -- 00:06:40.857 --> 00:06:43.278 no reason to live. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:43.278 --> 00:06:45.233 Of course it's meant to be funny, 00:06:45.233 --> 00:06:49.658 but in all seriousness, suicidal ideation is quite common 00:06:49.658 --> 00:06:51.243 with traumatic brain injuries. 00:06:51.243 --> 00:06:54.705 It happens to one in three, and it happened to me. 00:06:54.705 --> 00:06:59.753 My brain started telling me, Jane, you want to die. 00:06:59.753 --> 00:07:02.763 It said, you're never going to get better. 00:07:02.763 --> 00:07:06.605 It said, the pain will never end. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:06.605 --> 00:07:10.926 And these voices became so persistent and so persuasive 00:07:10.926 --> 00:07:17.002 that I started to legitimately fear for my life, 00:07:17.002 --> 00:07:21.057 which is the time that I said to myself after 34 days -- 00:07:21.057 --> 00:07:22.969 and I will never forget this moment -- 00:07:22.969 --> 00:07:26.106 I said, I am either going to kill myself 00:07:26.106 --> 00:07:29.064 or I'm going to turn this into a game. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:29.064 --> 00:07:30.489 Now, why a game? 00:07:30.489 --> 00:07:34.114 I knew from researching the psychology of games for more than a decade 00:07:34.114 --> 00:07:37.924 that when we play a game -- and this is in the scientific literature -- 00:07:37.924 --> 00:07:40.969 we tackle tough challenges with more creativity, 00:07:40.969 --> 00:07:42.898 more determination, more optimism, 00:07:42.898 --> 00:07:45.378 and we're more likely to reach out to others for help. 00:07:45.378 --> 00:07:47.987 And I wanted to bring these gamer traits to my real-life challenge, 00:07:47.987 --> 00:07:50.337 so I created a role-playing recovery game 00:07:50.337 --> 00:07:52.313 called Jane the Concussion Slayer. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:52.313 --> 00:07:54.977 Now this became my new secret identity, 00:07:54.977 --> 00:07:56.945 and the first thing I did as a slayer 00:07:56.945 --> 00:08:00.577 was call my twin sister -- I have an identical twin sister named Kelly -- 00:08:00.577 --> 00:08:04.265 and tell her, I'm playing a game to heal my brain, 00:08:04.265 --> 00:08:06.404 and I want you to play with me. 00:08:06.404 --> 00:08:10.250 This was an easier way to ask for help. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:10.250 --> 00:08:12.865 She became my first ally in the game, 00:08:12.865 --> 00:08:14.713 my husband Kiyash joined next, 00:08:14.713 --> 00:08:18.425 and together we identified and battled the bad guys. 00:08:18.425 --> 00:08:21.249 Now this was anything that could trigger my symptoms 00:08:21.249 --> 00:08:23.666 and therefore slow down the healing process, 00:08:23.666 --> 00:08:25.665 things like bright lights and crowded spaces. 00:08:25.665 --> 00:08:29.025 We also collected and activated power-ups. 00:08:29.025 --> 00:08:31.793 This was anything I could do on even my worst day 00:08:31.793 --> 00:08:34.457 to feel just a little bit good, 00:08:34.457 --> 00:08:35.968 just a little bit productive. 00:08:35.968 --> 00:08:38.642 Things like cuddling my dog for 10 minutes, 00:08:38.642 --> 00:08:42.209 or getting out of bed and walking around the block just once. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:42.209 --> 00:08:43.843 Now the game was that simple: 00:08:43.843 --> 00:08:46.697 Adopt a secret identity, recruit your allies, 00:08:46.697 --> 00:08:49.704 battle the bad guys, activate the power-ups. 00:08:49.704 --> 00:08:51.873 But even with a game so simple, 00:08:51.873 --> 00:08:54.202 within just a couple days of starting to play, 00:08:54.202 --> 00:08:56.986 that fog of depression and anxiety 00:08:56.986 --> 00:09:00.993 went away. It just vanished. It felt like a miracle. 00:09:00.993 --> 00:09:03.505 Now it wasn't a miracle cure for the headaches 00:09:03.505 --> 00:09:04.705 or the cognitive symptoms. 00:09:04.705 --> 00:09:06.348 That lasted for more than a year, 00:09:06.348 --> 00:09:09.146 and it was the hardest year of my life by far. 00:09:09.146 --> 00:09:11.420 But even when I still had the symptoms, 00:09:11.420 --> 00:09:15.713 even while I was still in pain, I stopped suffering. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:15.713 --> 00:09:18.785 Now what happened next with the game surprised me. 00:09:18.785 --> 00:09:21.284 I put up some blog posts and videos online, 00:09:21.284 --> 00:09:22.729 explaining how to play. 00:09:22.729 --> 00:09:25.284 But not everybody has a concussion, obviously, 00:09:25.284 --> 00:09:27.540 not everyone wants to be "the slayer," 00:09:27.540 --> 00:09:29.880 so I renamed the game SuperBetter. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:29.880 --> 00:09:32.953 And soon I started hearing from people all over the world 00:09:32.953 --> 00:09:35.564 who were adopting their own secret identity, 00:09:35.564 --> 00:09:38.787 recruiting their own allies, and they were getting "super better" 00:09:38.787 --> 00:09:42.485 facing challenges like cancer and chronic pain, 00:09:42.485 --> 00:09:44.907 depression and Crohn's disease. 00:09:44.907 --> 00:09:49.444 Even people were playing it for terminal diagnoses like ALS. 00:09:49.444 --> 00:09:53.085 And I could tell from their messages and their videos 00:09:53.085 --> 00:09:55.923 that the game was helping them in the same ways 00:09:55.923 --> 00:09:56.955 that it helped me. 00:09:56.955 --> 00:09:59.659 They talked about feeling stronger and braver. 00:09:59.659 --> 00:10:04.004 They talked about feeling better understood by their friends and family. 00:10:04.004 --> 00:10:06.619 And they even talked about feeling happier, 00:10:06.619 --> 00:10:10.092 even though they were in pain, even though they were tackling 00:10:10.092 --> 00:10:12.175 the toughest challenge of their lives. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:12.175 --> 00:10:16.463 Now at the time, I'm thinking to myself, what is going on here? 00:10:16.463 --> 00:10:21.187 I mean, how could a game so trivial intervene so powerfully 00:10:21.187 --> 00:10:25.331 in such serious, and in some cases life-and-death, circumstances? 00:10:25.331 --> 00:10:26.867 I mean, if it hadn't worked for me, 00:10:26.867 --> 00:10:28.987 there's no way I would have believed it was possible. 00:10:28.987 --> 00:10:31.596 Well, it turns out there's some science here too. 00:10:31.596 --> 00:10:37.291 Some people get stronger and happier after a traumatic event. 00:10:37.291 --> 00:10:39.451 And that's what was happening to us. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:39.451 --> 00:10:41.266 The game was helping us experience 00:10:41.266 --> 00:10:44.979 what scientists call post-traumatic growth, 00:10:44.979 --> 00:10:46.635 which is not something we usually hear about. 00:10:46.635 --> 00:10:49.804 We usually hear about post-traumatic stress disorder. 00:10:49.804 --> 00:10:52.708 But scientists now know that a traumatic event 00:10:52.708 --> 00:10:55.387 doesn't doom us to suffer indefinitely. 00:10:55.387 --> 00:10:57.684 Instead, we can use it as a springboard 00:10:57.684 --> 00:11:01.307 to unleash our best qualities and lead happier lives. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:01.307 --> 00:11:03.787 Here are the top five things that people with 00:11:03.787 --> 00:11:05.338 post-traumatic growth say: 00:11:05.338 --> 00:11:10.004 My priorities have changed. I'm not afraid to do what makes me happy. 00:11:10.004 --> 00:11:13.204 I feel closer to my friends and family. 00:11:13.204 --> 00:11:17.171 I understand myself better. I know who I really am now. 00:11:17.171 --> 00:11:20.880 I have a new sense of meaning and purpose in my life. 00:11:20.880 --> 00:11:24.160 I'm better able to focus on my goals and dreams. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:24.160 --> 00:11:26.175 Now, does this sound familiar? 00:11:26.175 --> 00:11:30.591 It should, because the top five traits of post-traumatic growth 00:11:30.591 --> 00:11:36.098 are essentially the direct opposite of the top five regrets of the dying. 00:11:36.098 --> 00:11:37.831 Now this is interesting, right? 00:11:37.831 --> 00:11:42.143 It seems that somehow, a traumatic event can unlock our ability 00:11:42.143 --> 00:11:44.791 to lead a life with fewer regrets. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:44.791 --> 00:11:46.111 But how does it work? 00:11:46.111 --> 00:11:48.431 How do you get from trauma to growth? 00:11:48.431 --> 00:11:51.431 Or better yet, is there a way to get all the benefits 00:11:51.431 --> 00:11:53.952 of post-traumatic growth without the trauma, 00:11:53.952 --> 00:11:56.352 without having to hit your head in the first place? 00:11:56.352 --> 00:11:57.912 That would be good, right? NOTE Paragraph 00:11:57.912 --> 00:12:00.311 I wanted to understand the phenomenon better, 00:12:00.311 --> 00:12:03.335 so I devoured the scientific literature, and here's what I learned. 00:12:03.335 --> 00:12:06.743 There are four kinds of strength, or resilience, 00:12:06.743 --> 00:12:09.511 that contribute to post-traumatic growth, 00:12:09.511 --> 00:12:12.482 and there are scientifically validated activities 00:12:12.482 --> 00:12:16.603 that you can do every day to build up these four kinds of resilience, 00:12:16.603 --> 00:12:18.592 and you don't need a trauma to do it. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:18.592 --> 00:12:20.800 Now, I could tell you what these four types of strength are, 00:12:20.800 --> 00:12:23.376 but I'd rather you experience them firsthand. 00:12:23.376 --> 00:12:26.448 I'd rather we all start building them up together right now. 00:12:26.448 --> 00:12:27.784 So here's what we're going to do. 00:12:27.784 --> 00:12:29.603 We're going to play a quick game together. 00:12:29.603 --> 00:12:31.976 This is where you earn those seven and a half minutes 00:12:31.976 --> 00:12:33.768 of bonus life that I promised you earlier. 00:12:33.768 --> 00:12:36.600 All you have to do is successfully complete 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:38.854 the first four SuperBetter quests. 00:12:38.854 --> 00:12:41.630 And I feel like you can do it. I have confidence in you. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:41.630 --> 00:12:45.000 So, everybody ready? This is your first quest. Here we go. 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:48.096 Pick one: Stand up and take three steps, 00:12:48.096 --> 00:12:50.817 or make your hands into fists, raise them over your head 00:12:50.817 --> 00:12:52.728 as high as you can for five seconds. Go! 00:12:52.728 --> 00:12:57.272 All right, I like the people doing both. You are overachievers. 00:12:57.272 --> 00:12:59.265 Very good. (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:12:59.265 --> 00:13:01.425 Well done, everyone. Now that is worth plus-one 00:13:01.425 --> 00:13:03.976 physical resilience, which means that your body can 00:13:03.976 --> 00:13:06.637 withstand more stress and heal itself faster. 00:13:06.637 --> 00:13:09.002 Now we know from the research that the number one thing 00:13:09.002 --> 00:13:12.952 you can do to boost your physical resilience is to not sit still. 00:13:12.952 --> 00:13:14.176 That's all it takes. 00:13:14.176 --> 00:13:16.957 Every single second that you are not sitting still, 00:13:16.957 --> 00:13:20.188 you are actively improving the health of your heart, 00:13:20.188 --> 00:13:21.328 and your lungs and brains. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:21.328 --> 00:13:23.159 Everybody ready for your next quest? 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:26.328 I want you to snap your fingers exactly 50 times, 00:13:26.328 --> 00:13:30.024 or count backwards from 100 by seven, like this: 100, 93 ... 00:13:30.024 --> 00:13:31.424 Go! NOTE Paragraph 00:13:31.424 --> 00:13:33.857 (Snapping) NOTE Paragraph 00:13:33.857 --> 00:13:35.504 Don't give up. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:35.504 --> 00:13:37.963 (Snapping) NOTE Paragraph 00:13:37.963 --> 00:13:40.064 Don't let the people counting down from 100 00:13:40.064 --> 00:13:41.400 interfere with your counting to 50. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:41.400 --> 00:13:47.029 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:13:47.029 --> 00:13:50.208 Nice. Wow. That's the first time I've ever seen that. 00:13:50.208 --> 00:13:52.657 Bonus physical resilience. Well done, everyone. 00:13:52.657 --> 00:13:55.500 Now that's worth plus-one mental resilience, 00:13:55.500 --> 00:13:57.888 which means you have more mental focus, more discipline, 00:13:57.888 --> 00:13:59.760 determination and willpower. 00:13:59.760 --> 00:14:02.288 We know from the scientific research that willpower 00:14:02.288 --> 00:14:03.904 actually works like a muscle. 00:14:03.904 --> 00:14:06.377 It gets stronger the more you exercise it. 00:14:06.377 --> 00:14:09.872 So tackling a tiny challenge without giving up, 00:14:09.872 --> 00:14:13.537 even one as absurd as snapping your fingers exactly 50 times 00:14:13.537 --> 00:14:15.337 or counting backwards from 100 by seven 00:14:15.337 --> 00:14:19.016 is actually a scientifically validated way to boost your willpower. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:19.016 --> 00:14:21.016 So good job. Quest number three. 00:14:21.016 --> 00:14:22.577 Pick one: Now because of the room we're in, 00:14:22.577 --> 00:14:25.241 fate's really determined this for you, but here are the two options. 00:14:25.241 --> 00:14:28.080 If you're inside, find a window and look out of it. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:30.464 If you're outside, find a window and look in. 00:14:30.464 --> 00:14:33.368 Or do a quick YouTube or Google image search for 00:14:33.368 --> 00:14:34.864 "baby [your favorite animal.]" NOTE Paragraph 00:14:34.864 --> 00:14:36.267 Now, you could do this on your phones, 00:14:36.267 --> 00:14:37.792 or you could just shout out some baby animals, 00:14:37.792 --> 00:14:39.465 I'm going to find some and put them on the screen for us. 00:14:39.465 --> 00:14:40.577 So, what do we want to see? 00:14:40.577 --> 00:14:45.752 Sloth, giraffe, elephant, snake. Okay, let's see what we got. 00:14:45.752 --> 00:14:50.737 Baby dolphin and baby llamas. Everybody look. 00:14:50.737 --> 00:14:53.017 Got that? 00:14:53.017 --> 00:14:57.067 Okay, one more. Baby elephant. 00:14:57.067 --> 00:14:58.290 We're clapping for that? 00:14:58.290 --> 00:15:00.250 That's amazing. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:00.250 --> 00:15:01.648 All right, now what we're just feeling there 00:15:01.648 --> 00:15:03.393 is plus-one emotional resilience, 00:15:03.393 --> 00:15:06.019 which means you have the ability to provoke powerful, 00:15:06.019 --> 00:15:08.848 positive emotions like curiosity or love, 00:15:08.848 --> 00:15:10.320 which we feel when we look at baby animals, 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:11.772 when you need them most. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:11.772 --> 00:15:14.120 And here's a secret from the scientific literature for you. 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:18.330 If you can manage to experience three positive emotions 00:15:18.330 --> 00:15:21.939 for every one negative emotion over the course of an hour, 00:15:21.939 --> 00:15:25.160 a day, a week, you dramatically improve 00:15:25.160 --> 00:15:27.816 your health and your ability to successfully tackle 00:15:27.816 --> 00:15:29.528 any problem you're facing. 00:15:29.528 --> 00:15:32.536 And this is called the three-to-one positive emotion ratio. 00:15:32.536 --> 00:15:35.047 It's my favorite SuperBetter trick, so keep it up. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:35.047 --> 00:15:37.584 All right, pick one, last quest: 00:15:37.584 --> 00:15:39.440 Shake someone's hand for six seconds, 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:40.864 or send someone a quick thank you 00:15:40.864 --> 00:15:42.680 by text, email, Facebook or Twitter. Go! NOTE Paragraph 00:15:42.680 --> 00:15:48.069 (Chatting) NOTE Paragraph 00:15:48.069 --> 00:15:49.896 Looking good, looking good. 00:15:49.896 --> 00:15:52.715 Nice, nice. 00:15:52.715 --> 00:15:56.195 Keep it up. I love it! 00:15:56.195 --> 00:15:59.788 All right, everybody, that is plus-one social resilience, 00:15:59.788 --> 00:16:03.035 which means you actually get more strength from your friends, 00:16:03.035 --> 00:16:04.988 your neighbors, your family, your community. 00:16:04.988 --> 00:16:08.300 Now, a great way to boost social resilience is gratitude. 00:16:08.300 --> 00:16:09.956 Touch is even better. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:09.956 --> 00:16:11.507 Here's one more secret for you: 00:16:11.507 --> 00:16:13.581 Shaking someone's hand for six seconds 00:16:13.581 --> 00:16:16.812 dramatically raises the level of oxytocin in your bloodstream, 00:16:16.812 --> 00:16:18.253 now that's the trust hormone. 00:16:18.253 --> 00:16:20.644 That means that all of you who just shook hands 00:16:20.644 --> 00:16:24.339 are biochemically primed to like and want to help each other. 00:16:24.339 --> 00:16:26.891 This will linger during the break, 00:16:26.891 --> 00:16:29.301 so take advantage of the networking opportunities. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:29.301 --> 00:16:30.502 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:16:30.502 --> 00:16:33.132 Okay, well you have successfully completed your four quests, 00:16:33.132 --> 00:16:35.508 so let's see if I've successfully completed my mission 00:16:35.508 --> 00:16:37.859 to give you seven and a half minutes of bonus life. 00:16:37.859 --> 00:16:40.283 And here's where I get to share one more little bit of science with you. 00:16:40.283 --> 00:16:42.675 It turns out that people who regularly 00:16:42.675 --> 00:16:44.476 boost these four types of resilience -- 00:16:44.476 --> 00:16:47.245 physical, mental, emotional and social -- 00:16:47.245 --> 00:16:49.942 live 10 years longer than everyone else. 00:16:49.942 --> 00:16:51.028 So this is true. 00:16:51.028 --> 00:16:53.299 If you are regularly achieving the three-to-one 00:16:53.299 --> 00:16:54.835 positive emotion ratio, 00:16:54.835 --> 00:16:57.614 if you are never sitting still for more than an hour at a time, 00:16:57.614 --> 00:17:01.855 if you are reaching out to one person you care about every single day, 00:17:01.855 --> 00:17:05.982 if you are tackling tiny goals to boost your willpower, 00:17:05.982 --> 00:17:08.333 you will live 10 years longer than everyone else, 00:17:08.333 --> 00:17:10.719 and here's where that math I showed you earlier comes in. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:10.719 --> 00:17:15.095 So, the average life expectancy in the U.S. and the U.K. is 78.1 years, 00:17:15.095 --> 00:17:18.223 but we know from more than 1,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies 00:17:18.223 --> 00:17:20.302 that you can add 10 years of life to that by boosting 00:17:20.302 --> 00:17:21.574 your four types of resilience. 00:17:21.574 --> 00:17:23.543 So every single year that you are 00:17:23.543 --> 00:17:24.998 boosting your four types of resilience, 00:17:24.998 --> 00:17:27.271 you're actually earning .128 more years of life 00:17:27.271 --> 00:17:32.247 or 46 more days of life, or 67,298 more minutes of life, 00:17:32.247 --> 00:17:36.561 which means every single day, you are earning 184 minutes of life, 00:17:36.561 --> 00:17:39.519 or every single hour that you are boosting your four types of resilience, 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:43.327 like we just did together, you are earning 7.68245837 00:17:43.327 --> 00:17:44.342 more minutes of life. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:44.342 --> 00:17:46.301 Congratulations, those seven and a half minutes 00:17:46.301 --> 00:17:48.005 are all yours. You totally earned them. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:48.005 --> 00:17:49.240 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:53.296 Yeah! Awesome. 00:17:53.296 --> 00:17:56.062 Wait, wait, wait. 00:17:56.062 --> 00:17:57.692 You still have your special mission, 00:17:57.692 --> 00:17:58.804 your secret mission. 00:17:58.804 --> 00:18:00.524 How are you going to spend these seven and a half 00:18:00.524 --> 00:18:01.868 minutes of bonus life? NOTE Paragraph 00:18:01.868 --> 00:18:03.212 Well, here's my suggestion. 00:18:03.212 --> 00:18:06.981 These seven and a half bonus minutes are kind of like genie's wishes. 00:18:06.981 --> 00:18:10.725 You can use your first wish to wish for a million more wishes. 00:18:10.725 --> 00:18:11.748 Pretty clever, right? 00:18:11.748 --> 00:18:15.228 So, if you spend these seven and a half minutes today 00:18:15.228 --> 00:18:17.892 doing something that makes you happy, 00:18:17.892 --> 00:18:20.028 or that gets you physically active, 00:18:20.028 --> 00:18:22.765 or puts you in touch with someone you care about, 00:18:22.765 --> 00:18:25.476 or even just tackling a tiny challenge, 00:18:25.476 --> 00:18:27.404 you are going to boost your resilience, 00:18:27.404 --> 00:18:29.055 so you're going to earn more minutes. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:29.055 --> 00:18:31.647 And the good news is, you can keep going like that. 00:18:31.647 --> 00:18:34.396 Every hour of the day, every day of your life, 00:18:34.396 --> 00:18:35.828 all the way to your deathbed, 00:18:35.828 --> 00:18:38.124 which will now be 10 years later than it would have otherwise. 00:18:38.124 --> 00:18:41.645 And when you get there, more than likely, 00:18:41.645 --> 00:18:45.364 you will not have any of those top five regrets, 00:18:45.364 --> 00:18:48.179 because you will have built up the strength and resilience 00:18:48.179 --> 00:18:51.219 to lead a life truer to your dreams. 00:18:51.219 --> 00:18:55.399 And with 10 extra years, you might even have enough time 00:18:55.399 --> 00:18:57.030 to play a few more games. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:57.030 --> 00:18:58.187 Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:58.187 --> 00:19:09.142 (Applause)