The cost of breaking a commitment?
Posted on March 31st, 2008 – 3:00 PMBy Kara McGuire
I’ve been struggling lately with fitting exercise and healthier eating into my life. Add kids and a full-time job to my fondness for for sleep, TV and a daily glass of wine, and going on a run often falls by the wayside.
Just yesterday I was thinking about how the only time in my life that I’ve successfully made working out a priority is in the months leading up to my wedding. My incentive: Looking fabulous in my pricey dress in front of 150 people.
Since then, few incentives look as good as a second piece of carrot cake (man, I’d better get to the point before I sound any more like Cathy).
Enter Stikk.com — a web site created by Yale economists after they successfully lost weight and kept it off by promising each other half a year’s worth of salary if they failed. When I came across this LA Times opinon piece written in January by one of the founders, I hung on every word. Here’s the site’s philosophy:
The concept is grounded on two well-known principles of behavioral economics: (1) people don’t always do what they claim they want to do, and (2) incentives get people to do things.
Here’s the deal. I sign up and make a commitment to exercise regularly, lose a certain amount of weight, even vote. I can make up a commitment of any kind and register it with Stikk.
If I keep my commitment, then good for me. I don’t spend a penny (the site is free). If I fail, then the money I’ve pledged, whether it’s $5 or $500, is transferred to the chum or charity of my choice.
I can pick a referee to monitor my every move and can e-mail friends so they can keep tabs of my progress.
I think it’s a cool concept. So here’s what I’m thinking. Send me an e-mail (kara@startribune.com, subject line: Stikk) and I’ll invite you to watch my progress. If I fail to exercise four times a week for 30 minutes at a time for the next 12 weeks, I’ll randomly pick one of those e-mail address owners to receive my pool of cash. I’m pledging $20 a week, for $240. Call it Kara’s exercise stimulus package.
If looking good in front of 150 people was incentive enough, looking bad in front of all of you should get my feet moving.
6 Responses to "The cost of breaking a commitment?"
A bit off the subject, but a fundamental problem in economics is how various incentives affect the behavior of market participants. Freakonomics provides an interesting handling of incentives, and gives insight into why people do things, and what causes socioeconomic trends.
Is that as effective as the WiFi Donation Alarm Clock?
My husband started a Biggest Loser style weight loss competition at work. Each person paid in $100 and each week they would weigh in, and if anyone gained weight, they had to pay in $5 per pound. My husband was really motivated by this. He lost over 50 lbs and won the contest (about $900). We conveniently started the process of getting life insurance after this was over and qualified for the elite rate (will save us lots of money over the years). He has kept if off for over 1 year and is now training for a triathalon.
As the weather gets nicer outside, I get more motivated to get out and do things.
My personal motivation comes from the start of the summer sports season: playing soccer and frisbee in six weeks is a powerful motivator for me.
I’ll have to admit that money is one thing that would definitely motivate me to exercise more, so I like the idea. I just don’t know if it would be enough to overcome my sleepwalking lifestyle…in fact, I am asleep as I type this. There’s no way I’m keeping that money if I did the same thing…
Best of luck, Kara! I’m sure you’ll do better than I would.
Great idea Kara as I’ve been looking for an incentive to get back on the exercise wagon.
I really like the option to choose an anti-charity whose mission is completely against what someone might believe in as that’s a really incentive.
Tell you what, I’ll match your 4×12 exercise plan and your $240 and you can give it to the person whose email you choose or the charity of your choice.
I’ll send you my email (you probably already have it) and we can monitor each other. I’ll also give the link to my wife so she can keep an eye on me.
I’ll start this weekend.
