1. Stickk
Remember that scene from Fight Club when Tyler Durden threatens the convenient store owner to join a veterinarian school or die? That’s kind of like what Stickk is. A lot of us aspire to do great things, but aren’t always entirely motivated to work in our own best interests. Sometimes, we’ll choose to skip a week of workouts when we’re not feeling up to it, or we’ll put some studying on the backburner in favor of the tube. What would happen if every time you did that, you lost $20? Stickk is based on this premise: every time you don’t do something that you’d previously committed to doing, then Stickk takes some of your money. (You can choose to donate it to a charity.) Alternatively, if you’re really strapped for cash, you can choose to make the stakes non-monetary. (Although Stickk does claim your chances of success double when you put money on the line.) There are four phases to Stickk: In case the thought of losing money wasn’t great enough, the added loss of social credibility and embarrassment might just be enough to coerce you into doing that dreaded workout you’ve always wanted to do. If there’s a new habit you want to start, and you know will help improve your life, sign up for Stickk and start a commitment on it. Stickk has a bunch of preset commitments, but you can choose to create a custom commitment. This service is flexible enough to adapt to most kinds of habits, whether you want it to be a daily or weekly ritual. If you’ve never been strong enough to make all the changes you’ve always wanted to, then I highly suggest using Stickk. Also, make the increments of money high enough so that it actually hurts to lose. Don’t cheat yourself and don’t cheat your referee! Start Stickking to your commitments.
2. GymPact
If you’re looking specifically to go to the gym more often, Gympact is a great tool to commit to. Gympact is specially tailored for gym trips. And let’s admit, staying fit is probably the top habit we all are trying to inculcate but have always failed to do it consistently. Gympact commits you to exercising a certain number of days per week. You are required to make a payment to Gympact every time you miss a day. Of course, if you don’t miss any days, then Gympact is a free service. Again, make it an amount that stings. That way, if you ever do miss a session at the gym, you’ll feel some pain in your wallet. Input your information into Gympact and make it happen! You’ll thank yourself when you reach your fitness goals.
3. 21habit
21habit is a site similar to Stickk. It’s still as flexible, and it can empower you to adopt a new habit or abandon a bad habit you have now. It’s also much more simple and clean than Stickk. 21habit is also built around the premise that it takes 21 days to build a new habit. This is the home page. Clicking the big green Get Started! button will take you to a sign-up screen. After that, you have the option of raising the stakes of this commitment. (Sound familiar?) In this case, 21habit only takes $1 per day if you fail. So you’re choosing to invest $21 into this habit you want to create. From there, you check in and 21habit helps keep you accountable. The beauty of 21habit is that you don’t need any other partners or people to keep you committed. This helps in case you want to break a habit you’d rather not have the whole world know about. You now officially have no reasons to not start creating new habits that you know will prove fruitful! If you still find that you’re not able to push yourself to create new habits, step up the stakes. Don’t push yourself so hard, it might take some time for your mind to really settle in and get accustomed to the new habit. (Or the idea of new habits.) And as always…have fun! 🙂 The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
