How to use Game Design to Solve your Failed New Year's Resolution

Every year on New Year's Eve, millions of people make a promise to themselves they will not keep. It's not because they are bad people, or cheaters, or have some other deep psychological traumas from childhood that keep them from achieving their New Year Goals. You may be reading this and thinking to yourself, yeah, I've been there. Well let's use Game Design to solve your problem!

Formulating a Good Goal

The problem most people have is that they do not know how to formulate an effective goal. Here are some common New Year's Resolutions that are doomed to fail from the start:

• Loose Weight

• Earn More

• Spend Less

• Travel More

Game Design teaches us that none of these have the components needed to ever accomplish. For an effective GOAL we need 3 things.

1. A Measurable Outcome

2. A Set Amount of Time

3. An Artificial Challenge

Step 1 - Define a Measurable Outcome

In order for us to know when we have achieved a Goal, we must be able to measure it. Without some data point, we can never say, "Goal Accomplished = True". First start by making a measurable outcome for your goal.

For instance:

• "Loose Weight" becomes "Loose 20 pounds"

• "Earn More" becomes "Earn $1000 more"

• "Spend Less" becomes "Save $1000"

• "Travel More" becomes "Visit 3 National Parks"

Each of the above outcomes can now be measured. Write down what the measurable outcome for your Goal is.

Step 2 - A Set Amount of Time

Every project will take up all the space allocated to it. If there is no Deadline, no planning can be done. Having to loose 20 pounds in one month requires different planning from loosing 20 pounds in a year. Make a set amount of time, a Deadline for your Goal.

For instance:

• "Loose 20 pounds in 5 months"

• "Earn $1000 more a month"

• "Save $1000 before the Summer"

• "Visit 3 National Parks this year"

Now we can plan how to accomplish each of these goals. Knowing 20 pounds need to be lost in 5 months, means 20 pounds / 5 months = 4 pounds per month that need to be lost to accomplish the Goal.

Visit 3 National parks this year means 3 national parks / months left in the year (9) = Visit 1 park visit every 3 months to accomplish the Goal.

Step 3 - Artificial Challenge

The first 2 steps are common practice among businesses. However, the real secret sauce lies in Step 3 - Artificial Challenge. You see an artificial challenge has a way of triggering our motivation systems, more than normal. Now just because the term says, artificial, doesn't always mean it's not a real challenge. In Game Design we use an artificial challenge to make game rules, that trigger the Playful Human (Homo Ludens). These challenges, or 'conflicts' create restrictions around how the Goal can be achieved, or some other outside force of conflict.

For example let us look at Soccer / Football

The Goal of the Game is:

Step 1 Measurable Outcome - Score the most points by getting the ball into the opponents goal.

Step 2 Deadline - You have 90min. deadline (ok in a tie we will add some more time).

Step 3 Artificial Challenge - You cannot use your hands or arms. (*Except for your goalie in the goal box).

Above we see that by placing a restriction of not using your hands, 'players' find new and creative solutions to achieve the goal. The same can be applied to your Goal. Add a restriction in order to trigger your creativity.

For instance:

• "Loose 20 pounds in 5 months, without going on a diet"

• "Earn $1000 more a month, but not from doing labor"

• "Save $1000 before the Summer, and Donate $1000 to charity"

• "Visit 3 National Parks this year, on horseback"

TIP: I find it is a good idea to add restrictions that you find typically blocking, in order to gain a new perspective on the problem. For instance, if you've tried diet after diet, and it didn't work, remove that from the equation. Ok, so now without using Dieting, how could you lose 4 pounds a month? The solutions begin to formulate in your mind already don't they?

Another form of Artificial Challenge is an outside conflict. If the goal is not accomplished within the deadline, some negative affect will happen. going back to Soccer / Football, that would mean when a team doesn't score more points, the other team wins and gets bragging rights until the next rematch.

One simple way to achieve this is by making a bet with friends. If you do not achieve the goal, you have to pay up, or do something you REALLY don't want to do.

For instance:

• I bet I will loose 20 pounds in 5 months, or I will clean your house.

• I bet I will visit 3 National Parks this year, on horseback, or I will shave off all my hair.

If you still are not convinced of the power of Game Goals, realise that so much technology from cellphones, GPS, heart valves, and more comes from a Game Goal that was made in the early 1960's called The Space Race.

Here we see the 3 steps in action:

• Measurable outcome: "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth."

• Deadline: before this decade is out (it was 1961, less than 9 years)

• Artificial Conflict: "The Soviets can't beat us!"

The nice thing about New Year's Resolutions, is a secret Game Design mechanic that you can use right now. It's called a "Do Over!" That's right, whatever New Year's Resolution you had that didn't work out, don’t worry. You get a Do Over to try again, only this time, make it a Game Goal instead.

To learn more about how you can Harness the Power of Play, check out our Game Design Introduction course. Step by step we will show you how to design games to solve real world problems.