How Much Would You Pay?

Would you go to a gym that made you pay for missed visits?  Probably not, but you may be surprised to learn that in the world of exercise consistency penalties may outweigh rewards in motivating you to meet your activity goals.

Recent research out of University of Pennsylvania separated 300 participants into four groups, two of which included cash incentives.  In one group, participants were awarded $1.40 for each day they met their activity goals (with a possible total of $42 to be earned over 30 days).  In a second group, participants were awarded the lump sum payment of $42 on the first day of the month, then “fined” $1.40 for each day they failed to meet their goal.  Although the financial outcome would be the same for all participants with the same activity levels, the group facing the prospect of having money taken back for non-achievement was nearly twice as likely to meet their goals as participants who were paid for each day they achieved their goals.

The study, demonstrating the strength of loss aversion as a motivator, poses the question of how to take this (not-so-positive) approach forward toward helping people involved in creating new exercise habits.

One way I’ve encouraged habit development for clients in the past is through the use of a very visible calendar marking each day of progress.  The feedback I get from clients is less around building the calendar, and more around not wanting to disrupt their visible pattern of performance with a “miss."  Because a miss feels like loss once a pattern of success becomes evident, this simple practice is another example of the strength of loss aversion in building exercise habits. 

Ready to give it a go?  Try building your own activity-tracking calendar – maybe even go so far as to pre-load it with rewards (checks, stars or stickers will do just fine).  You may just find that your reluctance to remove a reward (suffer a loss) promotes the development of your new activity habit!  

Hint: if you want to really double-down on winning habit development, post your calendar somewhere you and others will see it.  

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."  ~Aristotle