As we enter the final stretch of the year, I’m thankful I got to start this little adventure and to you for reading. I’m still trying to work out the kinks, so please give me any feedback you have, good and bad. 🙈
It’s that time of the year again—Spotify wrapped is out and people are sharing it all over social media. Big props to whoever came up with the idea, lots of value for the consumer with a host of interesting metrics and tons of free marketing via social media.
Intuitively you know what you’ve listened to a lot, but a year is long. Maybe you found some newer songs later in the year and it didn’t affect your stats. Personally was surprised at what my top songs were, but it made sense given the greater degree of time spent on Spotify during WFH earlier this year.
Wonder if Youtube has something similar in the works, I’d be really interested in my stats there too!
Anyone else want to share their podcasts?
Gameification of Learning 👾
When I look back on that process my attitude towards that [challenge] was the same attitude I had towards rescuing the princess from Bowser. Of course, each failure and setback sucked, but what did we learn from that? Let’s try it again.
This concept of life gameification is more than just “have a positive attitude” or “never give up”. Those imply you have to endure against your true desire to quit. If you frame a challenge or learning process this way, you actually want to do it. It feels natural to ignore failures and try again.
Playing games are fun not because they’re easy, but because they’re hard. In the Mario example he uses, who would play Mario if it was simply walking to the castle and saving the princess? No! You have to get through numerous green shells, pits, cannons and guys with hammers.
Let’s say you had a test with an input device and instructions:
Unless you finished the first page of the test, you couldn’t see the other 32 pages of the test. How much would I have to pay you to take the test for an hour?
Now, if we change the test to a game, change the input device, and changed the tasks so they’re represented visually
Note the output is still the same, you have to follow the instructions and finish the first level before getting to the next 32. How much would I have to pay you to take the test for an hour?
If we use this framework to approach some of the challenges we have, life can become so much more fun. Sometimes when I’m using excel at work, I pretend I’m playing Starcraft which also uses a whole host of hotkeys while thinking about the macro effects of your actions on the keyboards. Any examples from your life?
You have to have a strong goal in mind: every athlete that we work with at Neuro Athletics has to come with a strong goal in mind. Some want to be the MVP of the NBA and other want to close on a $40M deal and outperform their colleagues. Without a clear, laser sharp focus you won’t know what your target is. Being able to have a target that can be placed on the head of a pin will enable forward progression each and every day that you wake up. Your brain likes targets, but it doesn’t like broad targets, it only likes narrow and concise targets.
