JANE McGONIGAL
TETRIS AS THERAPY
TF: "Have trouble getting to sleep? Try 10 minutes of Tetris. Recent research has demonstrated that Tetris – or Candy Crush Saga or Bejeweled – can help overwrite negative visualization, which has applications for addiction (such as overeating), preventing PTSD, and, in my case, onset insomnia."
Do you have any quotes that you live your life by or think of often?
“When it comes to the future, it’s far more important to be imaginative than to be right” by Alvin Toffler
What is something you believe that other people think is crazy?
“That you should never publicly criticize anyone or anything unless it is a matter of morals or ethics”
ADAM GAZZALEY
HOW HE HIRES FOR COVETED SPOTS IN HIS LAB
“That’s usually where I start: ‘What do you think about that really gets you excited?’ Because I’m more interested in what drives someone and motivates them and makes them want to get out of the bed in the morning than a list of classic résumé check-boxes.”
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY
TF: "Since 2008, Adam has hosted a party for diverse friends of his (usually 40 to 80 people) the first Friday of every month, called First Friday."
Favourite documentary
TF: "Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series inspired Adam to become a scientist, which is true for many of the top-tier scientists I’ve met and interviewed. (TF: Neil deGrasse Tyson has a revised version of Cosmos that is also spectacular.)"
5 MORNING RITUALS THAT HELP ME WIN THE DAY
#1 – Make your Bed
#2 – Meditate (10 to 20 minutes)
#3 – Do 5 to 10 Reps of something
#4 – Prepare “Titanium Tea”
#5 – Morning Pages or 5-minute Journal (5 to 10 minutes)
MIND TRAINING 101
“We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.” – Archilochus
The Most Consistent Pattern of All
TF: "More than 80% of the world-class performers I’ve interviewed have some form of daily meditation or mindfulness practice. Both can be thought of as “cultivating a present-state awareness that helps you to be nonreactive.”"
The Buffet of Options
TF: "If I could only choose one physical exercise for the body, it would probably be the hex-bar deadlift or two-handed kettlebell swing. If I could only choose one exercise for the mind, it would be 10 to 20 minutes of meditation at least once daily."
THREE TIPS FROM A GOOGLE PIONEER
My Two favourite Exercises from Meng, in His Own Words
“With “Just Note Gone” we train the mind to notice that something previously experienced is no more. For example, at the end of a breath, notice that the breath is over.”
“I tell the audience members to each identify two human beings in the room and just think, “I wish for this person to be happy, and I wish for that person to be happy.” That is it. I remind them to not do or say anything, just think – this is an entirely thinking exercise.”
COACH SOMMER – THE SINGLE DECISION
“Dealing with the temporary frustration of not making progress is an integral part of the path towards excellence. In fact, it is essential and something that every single elite athlete has had to learn to deal with. If the pursuit of excellence was easy everyone would do it. In fact, this impatience in dealing with frustration is the primary reason that most people fail to achieve their goals.”
“Learn to enjoy and appreciate the process. This is especially important because you are going to spend far more time on the actual journey than with those all to brief moments of triumph at the end.”
“If the commitment is to a long-term goal and not to a series of smaller intermediate goals, then only one decision needs to be made and adhered to. Clear, simple, straightforward. Much easier to maintain than having to make small decision after small decision to stay the course when dealing with each step along the way. This provides far too many opportunities to inadvertently drift from your chosen goal. The single decision is one of the most powerful tools in the toolbox.”
Agosto, 2020