The alarm’s shrill screech is piercing your ears while the clock flashes 5AM, but instead of going for that 2 mile jog you were determined to start incorporating into your morning routine, you hit the snooze for another hour. Getting out of bed to exercise before you start your day is no easy feat, but Mindbloom hopes to make it possible by giving you your very own virtual life tree to grow, nurture and care for in a creative mashup of social gaming, networking and media sharing. Infusing each individual’s quest for personal wellbeing with fun and interactive tracking, goal-setting and casual gaming, Mindbloom is a service that’s on the cutting edge of new media in a new age.
Casual Gaming
The core of Mindbloom’s Life Game is casual gaming. When you set up an account, you are given a Life Tree to care for. This tree has branches that represent major areas of your life, such as your career, family and health. Each leaf on the branch represents small goals within each of these areas.
Your leaves are defined by specific actions that you create – such as going for an early morning jog or taking the stairs over the elevator – and they will turn brown if you do not complete these actions. If you do, you’ll receive seeds to keep your tree healthy and unlock new features. Users can also add inspirational images and quotes to each leaf to keep themselves motivated.
Social Networking
Within the goals of keeping your tree alive is a robust use of social networking. Mindbloom encourages users to share their trees with friends and family, and to create a profile that clearly displays their goals so that they can receive encouragement and support. They also have a “Humblebee” that floats around the site and asks users to congratulate their friends for achieving large life goals, and doling out seeds for positive interaction.
Mindbloom’s Life Game also allows users to connect via Facebook and share their successes on their wall. Other social elements include the ability to create “forests” of people who you want to keep track of, a messaging service, and email notifications of your friends’ successes.
Enterprise Solutions
Mindbloom offers its services to businesses and organizations looking for a way to encourage their members to live a healthy lifestyle. The most recent business to incorporate Mindbloom’s platform within its offerings is Sacramento State ‘s health and wellness facility, also known as The WELL (Wellness, Education, Leisure, Lifestyle). Providing over 25,000 staff and students with a support system for healthy living, The WELL has created its own branded content within Mindbloom’s Life Game to encourage its members to achieve their personal wellbeing goals.
Mindbloom has created a fun way to remind yourself of your life goals, and remain accountable to yourself and others. That Life Tree that you’ve got to care for is a compelling reason to turn your alarm off, rub the sleep out of your eyes and finally go for that jog.
