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Stick to Your Goals with Stickk

By on January 4, 2011

The sad truth is that most people don’t stick with their resolutions for a new year.   Statistics tell us that a whopping 75% don’t even make it to Valentine’s Day.  Stickk is a site that offers you a little extra motivation to stick to your goals whatever they may be.  This site basically uses the fear of loss and public humiliation to keep you going.  Admittedly, that doesn’t sound like much fun but the site actually makes the whole process enjoyable.

With Stickk, you put out a contract on yourself.  You set a goal, any sort of goal, and a completion date.  Then, you set a dollar amount that you’re going to give away to someone or some charity if you don’t hit that goal.  Next, you name a referee to monitor and confirm your progress.  Once all that is done, you make it all real by telling the world what you’re doing.

This all helps to motivate you in two powerful ways.  First, psychologists tell us that free of loss is a huge motivational factor even if it’s just a financial loss.  The amount doesn’t seem to matter much either but, of course, the more you “wager” the more motivated you’ll be.  Honestly though, people are often motivated to win $1 bets with friends far beyond what a single dollar would normally be worth.

The other powerful factor working for you is the community aspect.  Obviously, nobody wants to fail publicly so there’s a lot of motivational juice right there.  Beyond the potential public humiliation, the community can also comment and encourage you on your journey.  This is a real plus of the site and something that’s often overlooked.

All of this is backed up with years of behavioral research.  To quote the site…

We all need help to reach our goals – whether it’s incentives, or support from others. Years of economic and behavioral research show that people who put stakes – either their money or their reputation – on the table are far more likely to actually achieve a goal they set for themselves.

The site has a set of great privacy controls that allow you to control just how public you want your goals and progress to be.

I love the thinking behind the site.  The look and feel is great too.  I’m obviously not the only one that digs Stickk.  Right now there are over 58,000 contracts with $5,586,067 on the line.  That’s impressive.

Do you have a new goal for the new year?  Why not put a hit on yourself and help to make it happen.

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