Monday, February 22, 2010

Keeping Commitments: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is...

We have all heard it, some story about someone who lost all of the weight they should have because of a wager. Or that they did some other monumentally huge task that they always avoided because someone dared them to.

Whether it's the money, or hating to lose, this type of motivation seems to work well for some people.

Enter StickK.com, a website where you can make a contract with yourself and put your money where your mouth is. You can involve your family and friends, so they know what you're promising to do.

If you don't fulfill your commitment, you either lose money to a friend/family member or you can choose to lose your money to a charity - but it will be a charity you HATE, because hey, where's the motivation otherwise?

This is a great idea. At first I sort of blew the idea off, but then I realized...for a frugal person like myself, this is ideal. I would hate to lose the money, so I really should use this to make me follow through on some big things.

Like finding a job that makes me excited to head to work. Or being more social so that I have a chance to meet my next great love.

What would you choose to commit to?

Friday, February 12, 2010

From 60 to Zero (my new year's crash & burn)

It's official. I've hit my new year's slump.

I'm exhausted and working hard to keep dragging my butt to work and studying for school. The new year started out gangbusters, but I think that was because I still felt the promise of change. The fresh start made me hopeful that this year will somehow hold some promise that last year didn't.

Why did I think this? I'm not sure.

At the end of the year we were all excused from focusing on our serious responsibilities (at least a little) because we had "urgent" personal things to take care of. We all talked about holiday shopping, cooking and visiting relatives.

After the new year hit, I got super focused. I organized my paper pile, put away my decorations and actually put things on my calendar. I think that many people I know did the same thing. We made resolutions, hit the gym and cleaned our offices. The holidays were over, and gone with them the joking and goofing off.

If I were a business owner, I think that I would find a way to capitalize on this new year energy spurt.

Because, now, on February 12, my energy is gone.

Work is back to being, well...work. Except that we have the added pressure of big budget cuts and potentially employee layoffs. My workout schedule is suffering and I'm trying to talk myself into going to the coffee shop to study instead of to the local pub for a beer.

I have to figure out how to rejuvenate again and get back that vim and vigor. I think that I'm going to try something new and/or creative as often as I can. We'll see if that works.