Health Month
A few weeks ago I saw a MetaTalk post about forming a team for Health Month. I’d seen the site before when it was in private beta, but now anyone can sign up. I quickly joined the MetaFilter team. The site is all about promoting good habits and behaviours through social gaming. You create a number of rules (free accounts can have up to 3) that you then track each day. A rule might be “Eat leafy greens 3 times a week” or “Don’t smoke” or “Meditate for 10 minutes each day.” Then every day you visit the site and say whether you followed your rules or not. If you break enough rules, you lose a life point. If you follow enough rules, you earn fruit that can be used to heal yourself or others. There’s other fun stuff too, like random daily bonuses and check-ins with your “spirit animal” and stuff like that. Here’s my profile. I’ve been playing along for a couple weeks now, and I have to say, I think it’s working. The daily logging is quick enough and fun enough that I haven’t missed a day yet. Having simple, explicit rules means I don’t forget to follow them. And the best part is the social aspect happening on our Game Wall. Everyone has been great about posting comments and tips to support each other. More and more people in the health industry are realising that “most health solutions aren’t medical, they’re social.” Cool idea.
Anyway, I’m enjoying the “game” so much that I ponied up $5 for March. (If you’re a paid subscriber, you can have unlimited rules. You also get “sponsorship chips” you can give to others as well.) If you’ve been thinking about making some personal changes, I’d suggest trying it out!