SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully

even when I still had the symptoms, even while I was still in pain, I stopped suffering.

Tackle an important problem in your life, even if it seems overwhelming right now or out of your control. In fact, tackle it especially if it overwhelms you or feels out of your control.

here’s what I discovered: you can experience the benefits of post-traumatic growth without the trauma, if you are willing to undertake an extreme challenge in your life—such as running a marathon, writing a book, starting a business, becoming a parent, quitting smoking, or making a spiritual journey. Researchers call this post-ecstatic growth.

Not everyone has regrets on their deathbed—but if they do, they are likely to be one or more of the following: 1. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. 2. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. 3. I wish I had let myself be happier. 4. I wish I’d had the courage to express my true self. 5. I wish I’d lived a life true to my dreams, instead of what

Instead of waiting for life to throw a terrible trauma at you, you can cultivate post-ecstatic growth at any time by intentionally undertaking a meaningful project or mission that creates significant stress and challenge for you.

Whatever it is that gets your nerves going, keep imagining it, and wait until you feel the telltale butterflies in your stomach. As soon as you feel your nerves, say I’m excited or Get excited to yourself. Out loud. Say it a few times. I’m excited. Get excited!

These seven rules to live by make up the SuperBetter method, and they are the heart of this book: 1. Challenge yourself. 2. Collect and activate power-ups. 3. Find and battle the bad guys. 4. Seek out and complete quests. 5. Recruit your allies. 6. Adopt a secret identity. 7. Go for an epic win.

The key to making the Get excited! technique work is to be open to the possibility that you are, in fact, at least a little bit excited about whatever you think you’re anxious about. Could something good come about as a result? Is there any reason to be hopeful about what might happen? If so, you truly might be excited, not anxious.

A challenge is anything that provokes our desire to test our strengths and abilities and that gives us the opportunity to improve them. Crucially, a challenge must be accepted. No one can force you to tackle it. You have to choose to rise to the occasion.