Play To Win... Because Play Is Good Business | Kimberly Faith | TEDxTenayaPaseo
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulv4M6vd6-8 Video ID: ulv4M6vd6-8 ============================================================ [Music] march 2015. i had just crossed the year mark of living in vegas now even though i slept on the floor for most of it and my only piece of furniture was a table i got trash picking i still did it i hadn't returned to jersey with my tail between my legs i guess you could say i was living large meaning i finally got a bed and learned how to properly pronounce my residence state nevada not nevada how did i celebrate play of course i loved painting and i loved jacuzzis so i thought why not paint while in the jacuzzi no lie i had paint supplies at one hand and a towel in the other and i marched down to the empty clubhouse and set up shop after about 20 minutes i heard the metal gate open and two guys in their 20s joined me they seemed nice so we chatted for a bit hey we're headed back to our house to get some orange juice do you want some sure thanks and i kept on playing that's what i do and have always done play has always been a non-negotiable in my life what if i were to tell you that this one simple activity is the cornerstone for becoming a better person leader family member and professional and what if i told you that the top five skills desired by employers in 2020 according to cnbc marketwatch linkedin biospace.com and rasmussen are all learned and promoted by this activity yes play why do we love movies like elf big and willy wonka they speak to the child in all of us they're stories of a playful spirit in an adult world a childlike narrative that ends in a wealth of real life lessons for every adult who watches them the default setting of the characters in these movies is play the playful spirit cracks the heart and spirit of the adult world and the adult world needs more of that i'm here to argue that your life depends on your ability to play you want to win at this game called life you need to play to win let's start by defining play dr stewart brown a play researcher and founder of the national institute for play defines play as something done for its own sake it's voluntary it's pleasurable it offers a sense of engagement it takes one out of time and the act itself is more important than the outcome play is going to look different for all of us for me it's hiking traveling creating youtube videos for you it might be crossfit karaoke nights learning tick tock dances or anything else you get completely lost in let me make something clear play does not mean that you are participating in a juvenile or immature activity unfortunately in today's status and success driven culture play is often shamed like a dirty four-letter word if i were to ask all of you to clear your schedules meet me back here tomorrow same time same place for some play time how many of you would feel some shame or resistance because you're not being productive dr bernay brown a former shame researcher now focuses her studies on those who live wholehearted in her list of the 10 characteristics of the wholehearted the seventh one is the wholehearted cultivate play and rest letting go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self-worth ouch the wholehearted cultivate play and rest letting go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self-worth mike dropp in stuart brown's book play he states the opposite of play is not work the opposite of play is depression how successful of a person are you going to be and how fulfilled of a life are you going to have if you're depressed why do we need to play there have been a number of studies done over the past few decades arguing why adults need to play but here are the top eight plague relieves stress and releases endorphins it improves brain function and prevents memory problems it stimulates creativity and innovation it improves relationship and connection it heals emotional wounds it teaches teamwork and cooperation play increases your energy y'all and finally play allows you to see things from a different perspective ironically dr stewart brown did not start out as a play researcher he studied violent crimes and their offenders after mass murder charles whitman brutally took the lives of his wife child and 15 other innocent victims on august 1 1966 brown and a team of experts in various mental health fields got together and spent the next five months studying whitman and other violent criminals to try and find a common thread their most profound finding every single one of these criminals had a restricted history of play do you know that companies like nasa and boeing refused to hire some of the top performing graduates from schools like harvard if they discovered that the student didn't play as a child these companies understand the significance of play and the crucial role it has in the development of successful well-rounded adults hopefully by now you all just want to run out of here and go play but how for those of you who may have forgotten how i have a few suggestions all of which you've done as a child i'm only here to reacquaint you with something you already know one splash through puddles what does a kid do when they see a puddle they jump right in the middle of it they aren't thinking about how deep it is or how wet or dirty they're going to get they take the risk and go for it splash through puddles literally and metaphorically meaning be willing to take a risk and get messy when i moved to vegas almost seven years ago i had no earthly idea how hard it would be to move cross-country by myself to a city where i knew no one don't get me wrong it was the messiest puddle i have ever splashed in but also the most worth it two find animals in the clouds have you ever laid in the grass stared up at the sky and looked for animals you used your imagination everywhere i go whether i'm walking around a new city or on a hike i try and look at things with a different set of eyes what do i see smiley faces and doorknobs cutouts of sharks in rocks a whole bunch of other stuff that would have you question my sanity give yourself permission to see the world through your inner child's eyes pro tip carry around a pack of googly-eyed stickers that gives everything a personality finding animals in the clouds sparks you to look at things from a different perspective it opens your mind to new possibilities and allows you to view problems from a different angle did you know that it's this exact skill that increases innovation and creativity in the workplace so why not practice it all the time and strengthen that muscle so when you go outside later look up find an animal in the clouds and number three build a fort how many of you built a blanket for it as a kid here's a picture of a fort i built four years ago at 35 and yes i slept in it what did you do when you built a fort as a kid you jumped into the project with tenacity and enthusiasm you were excited you forgot everything else in pursuit of your grand idea you use the resources around you i can almost guarantee you didn't ask your parents to take you to the closest home depot or bed bath and beyond for supplies you used what you had and you made it work why can't we take this same philosophy and apply it to every project business and relationship we jump into what if we kept building forts even today or in the words of one of my childhood heroes mary poppins in every job that must be done there is an element of fun you find the fun and snap the job's a game so after you find an animal in the cloud and get home build a fort your kids may even think you're cool or not remember that jacuzzi masterpiece that i was telling you about well i didn't finish the story what i didn't tell you was that the orange juice those men gave me was drugged shortly after drinking it i don't remember the next 12 hours of my life i do remember waking up to rug burns all over my legs i do remember discovering that my laptop iphone and money had all been stolen and i do remember spending the day with csi and in the hospital only to be told that i was brutally raped the night before over the next few months they were the worst of my life every single day i had to fight the demons of depression and suicide that consumed my soul however i decided to take inventory of what those men did not take from me and one of those was my inner child the me that wanted to live that wanted to splash through puddles find animals in the clouds and build forts in short it was my desire to play i had to play to survive don't get me wrong some days were worse than others but i continued to play play help me heal play helped me rise up and rise above and believe it or not play help me forgive the most pivotal moment of my healing journey was a trip to yosemite i was on a hike and i started kicking this rock along the trail this went on for several miles and when i got back i decided to keep that rock slap a pair of googly eyes on him and give him a name wanna guess what i named him miles see there he is by the way miles is a prime example of finding animals in the clouds i took a rock and turned it into a pet with a personality something about miles and that silly little game unlocked a new desire to live it planted a seed of joy that had been lost for months from that point on miles went with me everywhere and i continued to use play to crawl out of the pit of despair i even created an instagram for miles frequent flyer miles here's miles doing yoga as you can see he's very good at plank miles on his first day of school at the school of rock then i took him to meet his hero the rock and lastly for his birthday i took him to see his favorite show rock of ages do you guys do you guys want to meet miles hey miles say hi miles ha ha ha ha you just played i just got you to talk to a rock play has and will always be a core value in my life i can boldly say that thanks in part to play my healing was accelerated here's a picture of me not even 90 days after the rape doing what splashing through puddles play allow this innocent practice to crack the hardened spirit of your adult world play to live play to win splash through puddles find animals in the clouds build forts with your inner child he or she hasn't gone away they're still inside you waiting to come out and make your life fun again waiting to come out and play