SuperBetter

Book excerpt: A remarkable life plan based on the game the author herself and hundreds of thousands of others have used to leap from trauma and setbacks to recovery and personal growth You are stronger than you know. You are surrounded by potential allies. You are a hero to others. These three qualities are all it takes to become more resilient in the face of any challenge. SuperBetter will show you that accessing this power is as easy as playing a game. In 2009, game designer and author Jane McGonigal got a bad concussion that wouldn't heal. She became anxious and depressed, even suicidal--a common symptom for concussion sufferers. But rather than let herself sink further, she decided to get better by doing what she does best: she turned her recovery process into a game. The game became a blog. The blog became a digital game, then an online portal and a major research study, then a TED talk with 4.5 million views. Today more than 250,000 people have played SuperBetter. But the ideas behind SuperBetter are much bigger than the game: we can cultivate the same powers of recovery and resilience simply by applying its core concepts in everyday life, by being "gameful" in the face of stress. Being gameful means bringing the psychological strengths you naturally display when you play games--such as optimism, creativity, courage, and determination--to real world situations. SuperBetter the book integrates seven basic rules into challenges the reader can undertake while reading, and explains the science behind the benefits. Playing by the seven rules begins to yield life-changing benefits in a matter of days, and eventually they become an ingrained skillset. As inspiring as it is down-to-earth, SuperBetter is self-help for the rest of us. Grounded in rigorous research and powered by game design, it is nothing less than an accessible, real-time guide to living a better life.