Jane McGonigal demonstrates how to play Massively Multiplayer Thumb Wrestling

Yesterday, Donna and I journeyed to Richmond, VA to attend WomenEtc. by RichTech. We were originally inspired to make the trip to see Jane McGonigal, gaming guru and Ted Talk serial speaker extraordinaire. Jane’s life work has proven that gaming is not only has positive emotional and physiological benefits, she has demonstrated that gaming can also be used to improve the human condition. We’ll get to that part in another post.

Jane’s presentation was everything we imagined it would be… and more. In the beginning, Jane boldly proclaimed that she would be able to get all 500 attendees to experience the 10 positive emotions associated with gaming within 60 seconds. Believe it or not, she did.

So, what are those positive emotions, you might ask?

1. Creativity
2. Contentment
3. Awe and wonder
4. Excitement
5. Curiosity
6. Pride
7. Surprise
8. Love
9. Relief
10. Joy

Imagine, 500 people joining in a physical daisy-chain. The chain had hubs with up to 5 hands. Between giggles and shrieks, players across the entire room tried to prevail as people worked to pin opponents on the left and right sides of their bodies simultaneously. We had engaged in largest game of Massively Multiplayer Thumb Wrestling (MMTW) ever played in Virginia. And Jane was right. We’d experienced the full spectrum of positive emotions she’d promised. (It was so much fun, we’re going to play MMTW at the next Positive Business DC Meetup.)

To get a sense for how much fun we had, you can find a demonstration of MMTW at :47 on the video below.

Here’s another promise Jane makes. Play this game and add 10 extra years to your life. Please take a look.

Disengagement

•  80% of students ‘don’t see how school contributes to their learning and growth’
•  60% of students ‘don’t rank learning as a reason they go to school’

Lack of Fulfillment

•  80% of dropouts would stay in school if learning were project-based rather than drill and kill

Motivation

•  50% of dropouts leave school because they’re bored
•  50% of students spend ‘an hour or less on their schoolwork each week’

More than 1 million American kids drop out of high school every year… that’s a run rate of 25%. How can that be possible? And more importantly, what can we do about it?

The folks at The Future Project conducted an experiment to improve high school students’ levels of engagement last year, and the results are pretty interesting. The program experienced a retention rate of 86%, which exceeded principals’ expectations by 5x. If you’re interested in the program, check out their site to learn more. If you want to try something at home to pique your kids’ curiosity and raise their levels of engagement, you might want to download The Future Project Playbook. It has some interesting exercises that I’m thinking would be good for most everyone to try… regardless of age. The framework provides a step-by-step guide for tapping into your potential.

Photo Courtesy of Natural Artistry Photography.

The people who attended the January 31 Positive Business DC Meetup at Teqcorner understand why unrealistic goals produce far greater fulfillment than the goals we typically set. Caroline Adams Miller gave several very powerful examples of how unrealistic goals are not only attainable—they also set the stage for achieving remarkable things that change a person’s life in unexpected and ultra rewarding ways. Surprisingly, only 20% of people set challenging goals.

How does Caroline approach goal setting differently from other life coaches? For one thing, she holds a MAPP (Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology) from the University of Pennsylvania. Caroline was one of the first people to go through the program. In doing so, she conducted the foundational research on the intersection of goals and happiness. Caroline discovered that a lot of what we’ve previously been led to believe about goals are, in fact, urban legends. Her scientifically-based work changes the dynamics of personal goal setting in an extraordinary way.

For full disclosure, I’m still working on the exercises in Chapter 1 of Creating Your Best Life: The Ultimate Life List Book. You know what? I’m already motivated to do things differently. For example, I have an opportunity to go to China in 2014 with a colleague and have no clue how to fund the trip. Last week this the trip was on the ‘wish list.’ Now, I’m not only going to make it happen, I’m planning to make it an integral part of where I’m taking my consulting practice. Of course, I still have to figure out how. I expect a difference in attitude will turn my desire to go on this trip from a wish into an experience of a lifetime that will transform the way people view scientific discovery.

We know from the active discussion after the Meetup (and on the site) that several other attendees felt inspired by the ideas Caroline shared. My favorite tidbit of the evening? All success in life is preceded by happiness. What’s yours?

Caroline… A heartfelt ‘thank you’ for coming out to to share your expertise with us and giving us a new perspective. Thank you also to Andrew Murdock for taking photos of the Positive Business DC Meetup. If you’d like to see the photos, please visit Natural Artistry Photography.

Stay tuned for our next Meetup. Our goal is 100 registrants or bust! We can make that goal with your help:-)