WEBVTT

00:00:01.293 --> 00:00:05.102
I'm a gamer, so I like to have goals.

00:00:05.126 --> 00:00:09.306
I like special missions
and secret objectives.

00:00:09.330 --> 00:00:12.997
So here's my special mission
for this talk:

00:00:13.021 --> 00:00:17.771
I'm going to try to increase the life span
of every single person in this room

00:00:17.795 --> 00:00:19.958
by seven and a half minutes.

00:00:20.394 --> 00:00:23.102
Literally, you will live seven
and a half minutes longer

00:00:23.126 --> 00:00:24.577
than you would have otherwise,

00:00:24.601 --> 00:00:26.307
just because you watched this talk.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:27.554 --> 00:00:29.750
Some of you are looking
a little bit skeptical.

00:00:29.774 --> 00:00:31.490
That's okay, because check it out --

00:00:31.514 --> 00:00:34.267
I have math to prove that it is possible.

00:00:34.291 --> 00:00:35.764
It won't make much sense now.

00:00:35.788 --> 00:00:37.100
I'll explain it all later,

00:00:37.124 --> 00:00:39.363
just pay attention
to the number at the bottom:

00:00:39.387 --> 00:00:42.663
+7.68245837 minutes.

00:00:42.687 --> 00:00:46.182
That will be my gift to you
if I'm successful in my mission.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:46.206 --> 00:00:49.375
Now, you have a secret mission too.

00:00:49.399 --> 00:00:52.910
Your mission is to figure out
how you want to spend

00:00:52.934 --> 00:00:54.974
your extra seven and a half minutes.

00:00:54.998 --> 00:00:57.546
And I think you should do
something unusual with them,

00:00:57.570 --> 00:00:59.100
because these are bonus minutes.

00:00:59.124 --> 00:01:01.092
You weren't going to have them anyway.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:01.116 --> 00:01:05.116
Now, because I'm a game designer,
you might be thinking to yourself,

00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:07.561
I know what she wants us to do
with those minutes,

00:01:07.585 --> 00:01:09.712
she wants us to spend them playing games.

00:01:09.736 --> 00:01:12.198
Now this is a totally
reasonable assumption,

00:01:12.222 --> 00:01:14.984
given that I have made quite
a habit of encouraging people

00:01:15.008 --> 00:01:16.630
to spend more time playing games.

00:01:16.654 --> 00:01:18.910
For example, in my first TED Talk,

00:01:18.934 --> 00:01:23.101
I did propose that we should spend
21 billion hours a week,

00:01:23.125 --> 00:01:25.222
as a planet, playing video games.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:25.246 --> 00:01:28.609
Now, 21 billion hours, it's a lot of time.

00:01:28.633 --> 00:01:32.943
It's so much time, in fact,
that the number one unsolicited comment

00:01:32.967 --> 00:01:35.245
that I have heard from people
all over the world

00:01:35.269 --> 00:01:37.126
since I gave that talk, is this:

00:01:37.938 --> 00:01:41.436
Jane, games are great and all,
but on your deathbed,

00:01:41.460 --> 00:01:44.957
are you really going to wish you spent
more time playing Angry Birds?

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:44.981 --> 00:01:45.981
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:46.005 --> 00:01:48.130
This idea is so pervasive --

00:01:48.154 --> 00:01:51.048
that games are a waste of time
that we will come to regret --

00:01:51.072 --> 00:01:53.221
that I hear it literally everywhere I go.

00:01:53.245 --> 00:01:55.140
For example, true story:

00:01:55.164 --> 00:01:56.504
Just a few weeks ago,

00:01:56.528 --> 00:01:59.854
this cab driver, upon finding out
that a friend and I were in town

00:01:59.878 --> 00:02:01.767
for a game developers' conference,

00:02:01.791 --> 00:02:04.862
turned around and said -- and I quote --

00:02:04.886 --> 00:02:07.452
"I hate games. Waste of life.

00:02:07.476 --> 00:02:12.080
Imagine getting to the end of your life
and regretting all that time."

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:12.734 --> 00:02:15.329
Now, I want to take
this problem seriously.

00:02:15.353 --> 00:02:17.884
I want games to be
a force for good in the world.

00:02:17.908 --> 00:02:20.684
I don't want gamers to regret
the time they spent playing,

00:02:20.708 --> 00:02:22.810
time that I encouraged them to spend.

00:02:22.834 --> 00:02:25.893
So I have been thinking about this
question a lot lately.

00:02:26.468 --> 00:02:28.256
When we're on our deathbeds,

00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:31.157
will we regret the time
we spent playing games?

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:31.899 --> 00:02:34.390
Now, this may surprise you,
but it turns out

00:02:34.414 --> 00:02:37.558
there is actually some scientific research
on this question.

00:02:37.582 --> 00:02:38.831
It's true.

00:02:38.855 --> 00:02:40.446
Hospice workers,

00:02:40.470 --> 00:02:43.381
the people who take care of us
at the end of our lives,

00:02:43.405 --> 00:02:48.182
recently issued a report
on the most frequently expressed regrets

00:02:48.206 --> 00:02:51.915
that people say when they are
literally on their deathbeds.

00:02:52.407 --> 00:02:54.701
And that's what I want
to share with you today --

00:02:54.725 --> 00:02:57.868
the top five regrets of the dying.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:58.810 --> 00:02:59.852
Number one:

00:03:00.900 --> 00:03:03.606
I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

00:03:05.798 --> 00:03:06.856
Number two:

00:03:07.458 --> 00:03:10.267
I wish I had stayed
in touch with my friends.

00:03:11.346 --> 00:03:12.477
Number three:

00:03:12.501 --> 00:03:14.968
I wish I had let myself be happier.

00:03:17.722 --> 00:03:18.909
Number four:

00:03:18.933 --> 00:03:22.120
I wish I'd had the courage
to express my true self.

00:03:23.824 --> 00:03:25.269
And number five:

00:03:25.293 --> 00:03:27.977
I wish I'd lived a life true to my dreams,

00:03:28.001 --> 00:03:30.006
instead of what others expected of me.

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:32.105 --> 00:03:35.587
Now, as far as I know, no one ever
told one of the hospice workers,

00:03:35.611 --> 00:03:38.682
"I wish I'd spent more
time playing video games,"

00:03:38.706 --> 00:03:41.286
but when I hear these top five
regrets of the dying,

00:03:41.310 --> 00:03:44.102
I can't help but hear
five deep human cravings

00:03:44.126 --> 00:03:46.126
that games actually help us fulfill.

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:46.150 --> 00:03:48.821
For example, I wish
I hadn't worked so hard.

00:03:48.845 --> 00:03:51.552
For many people, this means,
I wish I'd spent more time

00:03:51.576 --> 00:03:54.265
with my family, with my kids
when they were growing up.

00:03:54.289 --> 00:03:58.438
Well, we know that playing games together
has tremendous family benefits.

00:03:58.462 --> 00:04:01.860
A recent study from Brigham
Young University School of Family Life

00:04:01.884 --> 00:04:06.107
reported that parents who spend more time
playing video games with their kids

00:04:06.131 --> 00:04:09.190
have much stronger
real-life relationships with them.

NOTE Paragraph

00:04:10.810 --> 00:04:13.402
"I wish I'd stayed in touch
with my friends."

00:04:13.426 --> 00:04:14.870
Hundreds of millions of people

00:04:14.894 --> 00:04:18.032
use social games like FarmVille
or Words With Friends

00:04:18.056 --> 00:04:21.361
to stay in daily contact
with real-life friends and family.

00:04:21.385 --> 00:04:24.853
A recent study from
the University of Michigan

00:04:24.877 --> 00:04:31.137
showed that these games are incredibly
powerful relationship-management tools.

00:04:31.598 --> 00:04:35.409
They help us stay connected
with people in our social network

00:04:35.433 --> 00:04:37.529
that we would otherwise grow distant from,

00:04:37.553 --> 00:04:39.354
if we weren't playing games together.

NOTE Paragraph

00:04:39.853 --> 00:04:41.646
"I wish I'd let myself be happier."

00:04:41.670 --> 00:04:45.051
Well, here I can't help but think
of the groundbreaking clinical trials

00:04:45.075 --> 00:04:47.979
recently conducted
at East Carolina University

00:04:48.003 --> 00:04:50.854
that showed that online games
can outperform

00:04:50.878 --> 00:04:54.596
pharmaceuticals for treating
clinical anxiety and depression.

00:04:55.135 --> 00:04:58.127
Just 30 minutes of online game play a day

00:04:58.151 --> 00:05:01.124
was enough to create
dramatic boosts in mood

00:05:01.148 --> 00:05:03.709
and long-term increases in happiness.

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:05.545 --> 00:05:08.180
"I wish I'd had the courage
to express my true self."

00:05:08.204 --> 00:05:11.838
Well, avatars are a way
to express our true selves,

00:05:11.862 --> 00:05:15.194
our most heroic, idealized
version of who we might become.

00:05:15.218 --> 00:05:18.836
You can see that in this alter ego
portrait by Robbie Cooper

00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:20.966
of a gamer with his avatar.

00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:24.830
And Stanford University has been
doing research for five years now

00:05:24.854 --> 00:05:29.007
to document how playing a game
with an idealized avatar

00:05:29.031 --> 00:05:31.801
changes how we think and act in real life,

00:05:31.825 --> 00:05:34.785
making us more courageous, more ambitious,

00:05:34.809 --> 00:05:36.976
more committed to our goals.

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:38.452 --> 00:05:40.544
"I wish I'd led a life true to my dreams,

00:05:40.568 --> 00:05:42.374
and not what others expected of me."

00:05:42.398 --> 00:05:43.680
Are games doing this yet?

00:05:43.704 --> 00:05:47.180
I'm not sure, so I've left
a Super Mario question mark.

00:05:47.204 --> 00:05:48.998
We're going to come back to this one.

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:49.545 --> 00:05:53.061
But in the meantime,
perhaps you're wondering,

00:05:53.085 --> 00:05:56.020
who is this game designer
to be talking to us

00:05:56.044 --> 00:05:57.467
about deathbed regrets?

00:05:57.856 --> 00:06:01.213
And it's true, I've never
worked in a hospice,

00:06:01.237 --> 00:06:03.366
I've never been on my deathbed.

00:06:04.150 --> 00:06:09.443
But recently I did spend
three months in bed, wanting to die.

00:06:10.356 --> 00:06:11.873
Really wanting to die.

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:12.236 --> 00:06:13.760
Now let me tell you that story.

00:06:14.617 --> 00:06:17.721
It started two years ago, when I hit
my head and got a concussion.

00:06:17.745 --> 00:06:19.518
The concussion didn't heal properly,

00:06:19.542 --> 00:06:23.299
and after 30 days, I was left
with symptoms like nonstop headaches,

00:06:23.323 --> 00:06:26.061
nausea, vertigo, memory loss, mental fog.

00:06:26.645 --> 00:06:29.049
My doctor told me that in order
to heal my brain,

00:06:29.073 --> 00:06:30.097
I had to rest it.

00:06:30.121 --> 00:06:32.754
So I had to avoid everything
that triggered my symptoms.

00:06:32.778 --> 00:06:35.649
For me that meant no reading,
no writing, no video games,

00:06:35.673 --> 00:06:38.729
no work or email, no running,
no alcohol, no caffeine.

00:06:38.753 --> 00:06:41.722
In other words -- and I think
you see where this is going --

00:06:41.746 --> 00:06:42.826
no reason to live.

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:42.850 --> 00:06:43.851
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:43.875 --> 00:06:45.716
Of course it's meant to be funny,

00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:49.634
but in all seriousness,
suicidal ideation is quite common

00:06:49.658 --> 00:06:51.303
with traumatic brain injuries.

00:06:51.621 --> 00:06:54.816
It happens to one in three,
and it happened to me.

00:06:55.243 --> 00:06:59.816
My brain started telling me,
"Jane, you want to die."

00:07:00.421 --> 00:07:02.897
It said, "You're never going
to get better."

00:07:03.797 --> 00:07:06.722
It said, "The pain will never end."

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:07.384 --> 00:07:11.542
And these voices became
so persistent and so persuasive

00:07:11.566 --> 00:07:16.675
that I started to legitimately
fear for my life,

00:07:16.699 --> 00:07:21.176
which is the time that I said
to myself after 34 days --

00:07:21.200 --> 00:07:23.263
and I will never forget this moment --

00:07:23.287 --> 00:07:26.670
I said, "I am either going to kill myself

00:07:26.694 --> 00:07:29.297
or I'm going to turn this into a game."

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:29.321 --> 00:07:30.466
Now, why a game?

00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:34.594
I knew from researching the psychology
of games for more than a decade

00:07:34.618 --> 00:07:36.325
that when we play a game --

00:07:36.349 --> 00:07:38.380
and this is
in the scientific literature --

00:07:38.404 --> 00:07:41.173
we tackle tough challenges
with more creativity,

00:07:41.197 --> 00:07:42.874
more determination, more optimism,

00:07:42.898 --> 00:07:45.446
and we're more likely
to reach out to others for help.

00:07:45.470 --> 00:07:48.489
I wanted to bring these gamer traits
to my real-life challenge,

00:07:48.513 --> 00:07:50.509
so I created a role-playing recovery game

00:07:50.533 --> 00:07:52.417
called Jane the Concussion Slayer.

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:52.441 --> 00:07:55.235
Now this became my new secret identity,

00:07:55.259 --> 00:07:58.659
and the first thing I did as a slayer
was call my twin sister --

00:07:58.683 --> 00:08:00.991
I have an identical
twin sister named Kelly --

00:08:01.015 --> 00:08:04.733
and tell her, "I'm playing
a game to heal my brain,

00:08:04.757 --> 00:08:06.380
and I want you to play with me."

00:08:06.829 --> 00:08:10.226
This was an easier way to ask for help.

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:10.887 --> 00:08:13.125
She became my first ally in the game,

00:08:13.149 --> 00:08:15.085
my husband Kiyash joined next,

00:08:15.109 --> 00:08:18.503
and together we identified
and battled the bad guys.

00:08:18.527 --> 00:08:21.615
Now this was anything
that could trigger my symptoms

00:08:21.639 --> 00:08:23.703
and therefore slow down
the healing process,

00:08:23.727 --> 00:08:26.075
things like bright lights
and crowded spaces.

00:08:26.099 --> 00:08:29.120
We also collected and activated power-ups.

00:08:29.144 --> 00:08:32.081
This was anything I could do
on even my worst day

00:08:32.105 --> 00:08:34.248
to feel just a little bit good,

00:08:34.272 --> 00:08:36.176
just a little bit productive.

00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:38.893
Things like cuddling
my dog for 10 minutes,

00:08:38.917 --> 00:08:42.185
or getting out of bed and walking
around the block just once.

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:42.209 --> 00:08:43.949
Now the game was that simple:

00:08:43.973 --> 00:08:47.107
Adopt a secret identity,
recruit your allies,

00:08:47.131 --> 00:08:49.680
battle the bad guys,
activate the power-ups.

00:08:50.155 --> 00:08:52.115
But even with a game so simple,

00:08:52.139 --> 00:08:54.678
within just a couple days
of starting to play,

00:08:54.702 --> 00:08:58.509
that fog of depression
and anxiety went away.

00:08:58.533 --> 00:09:00.969
It just vanished. It felt like a miracle.

00:09:00.993 --> 00:09:03.481
Now it wasn't a miracle cure
for the headaches

00:09:03.505 --> 00:09:04.744
or the cognitive symptoms.

00:09:04.768 --> 00:09:06.485
That lasted for more than a year,

00:09:06.509 --> 00:09:09.122
and it was the hardest year
of my life by far.

00:09:09.699 --> 00:09:12.009
But even when I still had the symptoms,

00:09:12.033 --> 00:09:15.690
even while I was still in pain,
I stopped suffering.

NOTE Paragraph

00:09:16.723 --> 00:09:19.175
Now what happened next
with the game surprised me.

00:09:19.199 --> 00:09:21.260
I put up some blog posts
and videos online,

00:09:21.284 --> 00:09:22.705
explaining how to play.

00:09:22.729 --> 00:09:25.260
But not everybody
has a concussion, obviously,

00:09:25.284 --> 00:09:27.516
not everyone wants to be "the slayer,"

00:09:27.540 --> 00:09:29.856
so I renamed the game SuperBetter.

NOTE Paragraph

00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:33.446
And soon, I started hearing
from people all over the world

00:09:33.470 --> 00:09:35.756
who were adopting
their own secret identity,

00:09:35.780 --> 00:09:39.081
recruiting their own allies,
and they were getting "super better,"

00:09:39.105 --> 00:09:42.987
facing challenges
like cancer and chronic pain,

00:09:43.011 --> 00:09:45.320
depression and Crohn's disease.

00:09:45.344 --> 00:09:49.701
Even people were playing it
for terminal diagnoses like ALS.

00:09:49.725 --> 00:09:53.344
And I could tell from their messages
and their videos

00:09:53.368 --> 00:09:56.931
that the game was helping them
in the same ways that it helped me.

00:09:56.955 --> 00:09:59.807
They talked about feeling
stronger and braver.

00:10:00.286 --> 00:10:04.492
They talked about feeling better
understood by their friends and family.

00:10:04.516 --> 00:10:07.059
And they even talked
about feeling happier,

00:10:07.083 --> 00:10:09.163
even though they were in pain,

00:10:09.187 --> 00:10:12.554
even though they were tackling
the toughest challenge of their lives.

NOTE Paragraph

00:10:12.578 --> 00:10:16.439
Now at the time, I'm thinking
to myself, what is going on here?

00:10:16.463 --> 00:10:21.356
I mean, how could a game
so trivial intervene so powerfully

00:10:21.380 --> 00:10:25.307
in such serious, and in some cases
life-and-death, circumstances?

00:10:25.331 --> 00:10:27.102
I mean, if it hadn't worked for me,

00:10:27.126 --> 00:10:29.633
there's no way I would have
believed it was possible.

00:10:29.657 --> 00:10:32.076
Well, it turns out
there's some science here, too.

00:10:33.141 --> 00:10:37.839
Some people get stronger and happier
after a traumatic event.

00:10:37.863 --> 00:10:39.656
And that's what was happening to us.

NOTE Paragraph

00:10:39.680 --> 00:10:41.801
The game was helping us experience

00:10:41.825 --> 00:10:44.955
what scientists call
post-traumatic growth,

00:10:44.979 --> 00:10:47.179
which is not something
we usually hear about.

00:10:47.203 --> 00:10:50.068
We usually hear about
post-traumatic stress disorder.

00:10:50.092 --> 00:10:52.684
But scientists now know
that a traumatic event

00:10:52.708 --> 00:10:55.574
doesn't doom us to suffer indefinitely.

00:10:55.598 --> 00:10:57.938
Instead, we can use it as a springboard

00:10:57.962 --> 00:11:01.458
to unleash our best qualities
and lead happier lives.

NOTE Paragraph

00:11:01.482 --> 00:11:06.124
Here are the top five things that people
with post-traumatic growth say:

00:11:06.148 --> 00:11:07.672
"My priorities have changed."

00:11:07.696 --> 00:11:10.006
"I'm not afraid to do
what makes me happy."

00:11:10.553 --> 00:11:13.180
"I feel closer to my friends and family."

00:11:13.823 --> 00:11:17.147
"I understand myself better.
I know who I really am now."

00:11:17.863 --> 00:11:20.954
"I have a new sense of meaning
and purpose in my life."

00:11:21.414 --> 00:11:24.430
"I'm better able to focus
on my goals and dreams."

NOTE Paragraph

00:11:24.454 --> 00:11:26.549
Now, does this sound familiar?

00:11:26.573 --> 00:11:30.805
It should, because the top five traits
of post-traumatic growth

00:11:30.829 --> 00:11:36.319
are essentially the direct opposite
of the top five regrets of the dying.

00:11:36.343 --> 00:11:37.883
Now this is interesting, right?

00:11:37.907 --> 00:11:40.603
It seems that somehow, a traumatic event

00:11:40.627 --> 00:11:44.767
can unlock our ability to lead
a life with fewer regrets.

NOTE Paragraph

00:11:44.791 --> 00:11:46.087
But how does it work?

00:11:46.111 --> 00:11:48.632
How do you get from trauma to growth?

00:11:48.656 --> 00:11:51.407
Or better yet, is there a way
to get all the benefits

00:11:51.431 --> 00:11:53.928
of post-traumatic growth
without the trauma,

00:11:53.952 --> 00:11:56.381
without having to hit
your head in the first place?

00:11:56.405 --> 00:11:57.888
That would be good, right?

NOTE Paragraph

00:11:57.912 --> 00:12:00.287
I wanted to understand
the phenomenon better,

00:12:00.311 --> 00:12:03.502
so I devoured the scientific literature,
and here's what I learned.

00:12:03.867 --> 00:12:06.719
There are four kinds
of strength, or resilience,

00:12:06.743 --> 00:12:09.859
that contribute to post-traumatic growth,

00:12:09.883 --> 00:12:12.457
and there are scientifically
validated activities

00:12:12.481 --> 00:12:16.921
that you can do every day to build up
these four kinds of resilience,

00:12:16.945 --> 00:12:18.714
and you don't need a trauma to do it.

NOTE Paragraph

00:12:18.738 --> 00:12:21.324
I could tell you what these four
types of strength are,

00:12:21.348 --> 00:12:23.451
but I'd rather you
experience them firsthand.

00:12:23.475 --> 00:12:26.424
I'd rather we all start building them up
together right now.

00:12:26.448 --> 00:12:27.879
Here's what we're going to do.

00:12:27.903 --> 00:12:29.680
We'll play a quick game together.

00:12:29.704 --> 00:12:32.103
This is where you earn
the seven and a half minutes

00:12:32.127 --> 00:12:34.127
of bonus life that I promised you earlier.

00:12:34.151 --> 00:12:36.798
All you have to do
is successfully complete

00:12:36.822 --> 00:12:39.139
the first four SuperBetter quests.

00:12:39.163 --> 00:12:41.805
And I feel like you can do it.
I have confidence in you.

NOTE Paragraph

00:12:41.829 --> 00:12:43.189
So, everybody ready?

00:12:43.213 --> 00:12:45.476
This is your first quest. Here we go.

00:12:45.500 --> 00:12:48.232
Pick one: Stand up and take three steps,

00:12:48.256 --> 00:12:50.898
or make your hands into fists,
raise them over your head

00:12:50.922 --> 00:12:52.851
as high as you can for five seconds, go!

00:12:54.704 --> 00:12:56.689
All right, I like the people doing both.

00:12:56.713 --> 00:12:58.318
You are overachievers. Very good.

NOTE Paragraph

00:12:58.342 --> 00:12:59.411
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:12:59.435 --> 00:13:00.458
Well done, everyone.

00:13:00.482 --> 00:13:02.618
That is worth +1 physical resilience,

00:13:02.642 --> 00:13:05.364
which means that your body
can withstand more stress

00:13:05.388 --> 00:13:06.903
and heal itself faster.

00:13:06.927 --> 00:13:08.238
We know from the research

00:13:08.262 --> 00:13:11.628
that the number one thing you can do
to boost your physical resilience

00:13:11.652 --> 00:13:12.928
is to not sit still.

00:13:12.952 --> 00:13:14.152
That's all it takes.

00:13:14.176 --> 00:13:17.372
Every single second
that you are not sitting still,

00:13:17.396 --> 00:13:20.164
you are actively improving
the health of your heart,

00:13:20.188 --> 00:13:21.497
and your lungs and brains.

NOTE Paragraph

00:13:21.806 --> 00:13:23.529
Everybody ready for your next quest?

00:13:24.180 --> 00:13:26.473
I want you to snap
your fingers exactly 50 times,

00:13:26.497 --> 00:13:30.000
or count backwards from 100
by seven, like this: 100, 93...

00:13:30.024 --> 00:13:31.037
Go!

NOTE Paragraph

00:13:31.061 --> 00:13:34.489
(Snapping)

NOTE Paragraph

00:13:34.513 --> 00:13:35.576
Don't give up.

NOTE Paragraph

00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:38.391
(Snapping)

NOTE Paragraph

00:13:38.415 --> 00:13:40.447
Don't let the people
counting down from 100

00:13:40.471 --> 00:13:42.177
interfere with your counting to 50.

NOTE Paragraph

00:13:42.201 --> 00:13:45.089
(Snapping)

NOTE Paragraph

00:13:45.113 --> 00:13:46.662
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:13:46.686 --> 00:13:50.390
Nice. Wow. That's the first
time I've ever seen that.

00:13:50.414 --> 00:13:52.906
Bonus physical resilience.
Well done, everyone.

00:13:53.390 --> 00:13:55.476
Now that's worth +1 mental resilience,

00:13:55.500 --> 00:13:58.167
which means you have more
mental focus, more discipline,

00:13:58.191 --> 00:14:00.017
determination and willpower.

00:14:00.041 --> 00:14:01.829
We know from the scientific research

00:14:01.853 --> 00:14:03.980
that willpower
actually works like a muscle.

00:14:04.004 --> 00:14:06.755
It gets stronger the more you exercise it.

00:14:06.779 --> 00:14:10.131
So tackling a tiny challenge
without giving up,

00:14:10.155 --> 00:14:13.513
even one as absurd as snapping
your fingers exactly 50 times

00:14:13.537 --> 00:14:15.395
or counting backwards from 100 by seven

00:14:15.419 --> 00:14:18.991
is actually a scientifically validated way
to boost your willpower.

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:19.015 --> 00:14:20.993
So good job. Quest number three.

00:14:21.017 --> 00:14:24.281
Pick one: Because of the room,
fate's really determined this for you,

00:14:24.305 --> 00:14:25.689
but here are the two options.

00:14:25.713 --> 00:14:28.167
If you're inside,
find a window and look out of it.

00:14:28.191 --> 00:14:30.719
If you're outside,
find a window and look in.

00:14:30.743 --> 00:14:33.344
Or do a quick YouTube
or Google image search

00:14:33.368 --> 00:14:35.140
for "baby [your favorite animal.]"

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:35.164 --> 00:14:37.965
Do it on your phones,
or just shout out some baby animals,

00:14:37.989 --> 00:14:39.541
and I'll put them on the screen.

00:14:39.565 --> 00:14:41.021
So, what do we want to see?

00:14:41.045 --> 00:14:46.498
Sloth, giraffe, elephant, snake.
Okay, let's see what we got.

00:14:46.522 --> 00:14:51.219
Baby dolphin and baby llamas.
Everybody look.

00:14:51.775 --> 00:14:52.993
Got that?

00:14:53.017 --> 00:14:55.248
Okay, one more. Baby elephant.

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:55.272 --> 00:14:56.437
(Audience) Oh!

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:56.461 --> 00:14:57.922
We're clapping for that?

00:14:57.946 --> 00:14:59.130
That's amazing.

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:59.154 --> 00:15:00.246
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:15:00.270 --> 00:15:03.769
All right, what we're just feeling there
is plus-one emotional resilience,

00:15:03.793 --> 00:15:06.295
which means you have the ability
to provoke powerful,

00:15:06.319 --> 00:15:08.777
positive emotions like curiosity or love,

00:15:08.801 --> 00:15:10.653
which we feel looking at baby animals,

00:15:10.677 --> 00:15:11.904
when you need them most.

NOTE Paragraph

00:15:11.928 --> 00:15:14.582
Here's a secret from the scientific
literature for you.

00:15:14.606 --> 00:15:18.307
If you can manage to experience
three positive emotions

00:15:18.331 --> 00:15:20.832
for every one negative emotion

00:15:20.856 --> 00:15:23.824
over the course of an hour, a day, a week,

00:15:23.848 --> 00:15:25.920
you dramatically improve your health

00:15:25.944 --> 00:15:29.504
and your ability to successfully tackle
any problem you're facing.

00:15:29.528 --> 00:15:32.783
And this is called the three-to-one
positive emotion ratio.

00:15:32.807 --> 00:15:35.465
It's my favorite
SuperBetter trick, so keep it up.

NOTE Paragraph

00:15:35.489 --> 00:15:37.560
All right, pick one, last quest:

00:15:37.584 --> 00:15:39.416
Shake someone's hand for six seconds,

00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.147
or send someone a quick thank you

00:15:41.171 --> 00:15:43.077
by text, email, Facebook or Twitter. Go!

NOTE Paragraph

00:15:43.101 --> 00:15:48.045
(Chatting)

NOTE Paragraph

00:15:48.069 --> 00:15:49.764
Looking good, looking good.

00:15:51.486 --> 00:15:52.691
Nice, nice.

00:15:53.565 --> 00:15:54.628
Keep it up.

00:15:55.347 --> 00:15:56.348
I love it!

00:15:56.372 --> 00:15:59.764
All right, everybody,
that is +1 social resilience,

00:15:59.788 --> 00:16:03.011
which means you actually get
more strength from your friends,

00:16:03.035 --> 00:16:05.132
your neighbors, your family,
your community.

00:16:05.156 --> 00:16:08.641
Now, a great way to boost
social resilience is gratitude.

00:16:08.665 --> 00:16:09.932
Touch is even better.

NOTE Paragraph

00:16:09.956 --> 00:16:11.483
Here's one more secret for you:

00:16:11.507 --> 00:16:13.752
Shaking someone's hand for six seconds

00:16:13.776 --> 00:16:16.788
dramatically raises the level
of oxytocin in your bloodstream,

00:16:16.812 --> 00:16:18.654
now that's the trust hormone.

00:16:18.678 --> 00:16:20.903
That means that all of you
who just shook hands

00:16:20.927 --> 00:16:24.315
are biochemically primed to like
and want to help each other.

00:16:24.339 --> 00:16:26.867
This will linger during the break,

00:16:26.891 --> 00:16:29.277
so take advantage
of the networking opportunities.

NOTE Paragraph

00:16:29.301 --> 00:16:30.347
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:16:30.371 --> 00:16:33.077
Well, you have successfully
completed your four quests,

00:16:33.101 --> 00:16:35.504
let's see if I've successfully
completed my mission

00:16:35.528 --> 00:16:37.913
to give you seven and a half
minutes of bonus life.

00:16:37.937 --> 00:16:40.738
Now I get to share one more
little bit of science with you.

00:16:40.762 --> 00:16:44.922
It turns out that people who regularly
boost these four types of resilience --

00:16:44.946 --> 00:16:47.461
physical, mental, emotional and social --

00:16:47.485 --> 00:16:49.918
live 10 years longer than everyone else.

00:16:49.942 --> 00:16:51.004
So this is true.

00:16:51.028 --> 00:16:54.811
If you are regularly achieving
the three-to-one positive emotion ratio,

00:16:54.835 --> 00:16:57.962
if you are never sitting still
for more than an hour at a time,

00:16:57.986 --> 00:17:01.831
if you are reaching out to one person
you care about every single day,

00:17:01.855 --> 00:17:05.958
if you are tackling tiny goals
to boost your willpower,

00:17:05.982 --> 00:17:08.309
you will live 10 years longer
than everyone else,

00:17:08.333 --> 00:17:11.048
and here's where that math
I showed you earlier comes in.

NOTE Paragraph

00:17:11.072 --> 00:17:15.071
So, the average life expectancy
in the U.S. and the U.K. is 78.1 years,

00:17:15.095 --> 00:17:18.199
but we know from more than 1,000
peer-reviewed scientific studies

00:17:18.223 --> 00:17:21.818
that you can add 10 years of life
by boosting your four types of resilience.

00:17:21.842 --> 00:17:25.377
So every single year that you are boosting
your four types of resilience,

00:17:25.401 --> 00:17:27.650
you're actually earning
.128 more years of life

00:17:27.674 --> 00:17:32.223
or 46 more days of life,
or 67,298 more minutes of life,

00:17:32.247 --> 00:17:36.537
which means every single day,
you are earning 184 minutes of life,

00:17:36.561 --> 00:17:40.038
or every single hour that you are boosting
your four types of resilience,

00:17:40.062 --> 00:17:43.303
like we just did together,
you are earning 7.68245837

00:17:43.327 --> 00:17:44.398
more minutes of life.

NOTE Paragraph

00:17:44.422 --> 00:17:47.334
Congratulations, those seven
and a half minutes are all yours.

00:17:47.358 --> 00:17:48.834
You totally earned them.

NOTE Paragraph

00:17:48.858 --> 00:17:49.865
Yeah!

NOTE Paragraph

00:17:49.889 --> 00:17:51.183
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:17:51.207 --> 00:17:52.243
Awesome.

00:17:53.034 --> 00:17:54.292
Wait, wait, wait.

00:17:55.649 --> 00:17:58.780
You still have your special mission,
your secret mission.

00:17:58.804 --> 00:18:01.844
How are you going to spend
these minutes of bonus life?

NOTE Paragraph

00:18:01.868 --> 00:18:03.561
Well, here's my suggestion.

00:18:03.585 --> 00:18:07.203
These seven and a half bonus minutes
are kind of like genie's wishes.

00:18:07.227 --> 00:18:10.701
You can use your first wish
to wish for a million more wishes.

00:18:10.725 --> 00:18:11.772
Pretty clever, right?

00:18:11.796 --> 00:18:15.627
So, if you spend these
seven and a half minutes today

00:18:15.651 --> 00:18:18.261
doing something that makes you happy,

00:18:18.285 --> 00:18:20.004
or that gets you physically active,

00:18:20.028 --> 00:18:23.107
or puts you in touch
with someone you care about,

00:18:23.131 --> 00:18:25.940
or even just tackling a tiny challenge,

00:18:25.964 --> 00:18:29.589
you're going to boost your resilience,
so you're going to earn more minutes.

NOTE Paragraph

00:18:29.613 --> 00:18:32.068
And the good news is,
you can keep going like that.

00:18:32.092 --> 00:18:34.372
Every hour of the day,
every day of your life,

00:18:34.396 --> 00:18:35.804
all the way to your deathbed,

00:18:35.828 --> 00:18:38.781
which will now be 10 years later
than it would have otherwise.

00:18:39.081 --> 00:18:42.239
And when you get there, more than likely,

00:18:42.263 --> 00:18:45.779
you will not have
any of those top five regrets,

00:18:45.803 --> 00:18:48.652
because you will have built up
the strength and resilience

00:18:48.676 --> 00:18:51.359
to lead a life truer to your dreams.

00:18:52.136 --> 00:18:55.375
And with 10 extra years,
you might even have enough time

00:18:55.399 --> 00:18:57.318
to play a few more games.

NOTE Paragraph

00:18:57.342 --> 00:18:58.421
Thank you.

NOTE Paragraph

00:18:58.445 --> 00:19:00.900
(Applause)