Baba Is You is a puzzle game where word order matters. Rules can be changed - and usually must be changed - in order to win a level. Here's an example that shows the importance of word order: Baba Is You, Wall Is Stop The level's initial ruleset gives it standard puzzle game rules: You are the character (Baba), the win area is over there, obstacles are in the way. However, we can manipulate the Wall Is Stop rule by breaking the sequence of words, so that the walls no longer stop the...
13 days ago • 2 min read
Everything good in life is the result of collaboration. Art is created and experienced. Products are bought and sold. Ideas are given and received. Therefore it is wise to hold a conscious intention to maximize your chances to meet your collaborators. You meet your collaborators by introducing yourself. This can happen on a walk at the park, in line for the bathroom, by posting that interesting idea online. Once you give someone something to engage with, you both get to look for similarities...
24 days ago • 1 min read
During a Gamification Conversation, I helped a startup founder create a framework of rules, rewards, and accountability for the area of his work that gave him the most resistance. This framework made him visibly excited - he was glad to have a lighter perspective on the work that was so heavy to him that he frequently avoided it. Towards the end of our conversation he asked why I was doing this. What's important to me about this offering? I feel most fulfilled when I give something that...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
I stand alone on the balcony overlooking the backyard, leaning against the railing, thinking of nothing in particular. The door creaks open. "It's tiiiiiiime," my friend tells me. I walk inside towards the room where a dozen people await my arrival. Murmurs and declarations of "yes" greet me as I breach the circle. I stand at the center and am rewarded with louder yeses. I move towards someone, then someone else. Silence. Back to the center. "Yes," affirms the chorus. Okay, here. I hold my...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello! In the throes of a lower mood I try to remember how much I have to be grateful for, how much I have in my life that is worth celebrating. Today's newsletter is me doing that! It's remarkable how simple and effective this practice is at shifting my mood from gloom to bloom. Here is my gratitude list: Receiving appreciation for The RAMP Mindset and the dots method on a video call. Running into some new connections at a friend's birthday party. Hearing Nine In The Afternoon on the radio...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
In any situation you can take a moment to notice whether you could enjoy it more - maybe a lot more or maybe a little more - and then take action to raise your enjoyment. Turning the act of noticing into a habit yields huge gains for lifetime enjoyment. This has been the message for me lately and so it is my solemn duty to pass the message on to you. Some examples: During a conversation someone asked me out of 10 how comfortable I was in my seat and I said 7. Once I was aware of this it was...
2 months ago • 1 min read
"Get back here!" I find myself shouting at my focus at times, but that's just a story. The internal tug-of-war isn't real. I could stop giving my attention to the distraction at any time, but I instead let the avoidance process run its course, and then I am resourced to do the task. Let me just run eight miles first, thinking intermittently about the message I want to send, and then I will feel resourced to send it and possibly receive a response that is not to my liking. I am practicing...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Asking is a skill which also makes it a game. It's a cooperative game between the asker and the askee and I'm going to describe a few examples I was in close proximity to recently in order to see what this game involves: The group asked for the delicious off-menu dessert and they got it. They had an advantage in that there was only upside. Since they weren't attached to getting the dessert, their circumstances would either stay as they were or they would get better. So an acceptance of any...
3 months ago • 1 min read
I have no words on this newsletter day, instead there's a pleasant combination of body relaxation and mental emptiness. As a frequent thinker this quiet in my head feels wonderful. I have been practicing boredom and gratitude and being with things as they are rather than wishing they were different. When negativity arrives I get to be with it, and then when I arrive at emotional neutrality I can overcome the negativity, which feels increasingly important to me. The obstacles are the point....
3 months ago • 1 min read