The Motivation Hacker

by Nick Winter

What precommitment devices shall I use? Everything I can think of! 1. I’ll give away $7,290 if I don’t do it on or before August 25, 2012. (I put another $7,290 on finishing the first draft of this book by then.) 2. I’ve already told Chloe, her friends, all my Human Hacker Housemates, and a bunch of people at a party. I’ll tell my startup cofounders, and I’ll post it on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. (I don’t like using social networks, but I haven’t set up an appropriate public blog yet, and I need to do this right now.) 3. I’m writing this whole chapter about it in advance, and it would be terribly inconvenient to have to rewrite it with a weaker example, and to fail at something when I’m writing a book about how to do the opposite. (Every little bit helps.) 4. I already paid for it. 5. Chloe is counting on me. 6. I’ll nonchalantly email my twin brother, who went skydiving no problem, and tell him that I’m going to go skydiving as if it’s no problem, too. 7. I’ll fix the date of the skydive now, so that there’s no chance of scheduling problems. (Friends’ schedules dictate August 19.)