WNGF — doing what is winnable, has novel challenges and goals, and provides feedback. Plus, games are always more fun when played with other people. - Eric Barker

Dan Ariely did a study in which people were given the opportunity to cheat on a test. (They didn’t know the researchers administering the test would be able to tell.) Of course, those who exploited this performed better, but here’s what’s interesting: when surveyed about how they thought they’d do on another test, the cheaters rated themselves higher than non-cheaters. In other words, despite having succeeded due to deception, they attributed their success to being smarter. In deceiving others they ended up deceiving themselves.

We’ll see that the fundamental core of relationships is the stories our brains weave to create identity, agency, and community — and how those stories not only bind us together but can tear us apart if we’re not careful.

By engaging in cognitive reappraisal, and telling ourselves a different story about what is happening, we can subvert the entire willpower paradigm. Some research has shown that willpower is like a muscle, and it gets tired with overuse. But it only gets depleted if there’s a struggle. Games change the struggle to something else.