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Editor in Chief Amy Cosper on Gamification and the Importance of Play Playfulness, as most entrepreneurs will tell you, can help alleviate the anxiety and stress that go hand-in-hand with owning a business.

By Amy Cosper

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Amy C. Cosper

It is a pitiful moment in the life cycle of humans when playfulness comes to a screeching halt. No more jumping in leaf piles. No more prank calling. No more artistic, under-cover-of-darkness toilet-papering of other people's homes. Things suddenly get serious.

It's a transitional phase, this "mature responsibility," when one halts the aforementioned activities and heads to Banana Republic for a dark suit and white button-down, items that are somehow related to perceptions of what being a grown-up means.