This is a guest post by Jo Walters of 250 Things While I’m 25.
On my 25th birthday I decided to spend the whole of the next year coming up with, and doing, 250 random things. I wanted to have some interesting stories to tell, to try new things and force myself to get off my sofa once in a while, so I came up with my silly challenge…
Over the next few weeks I created a list which grew as I sent it to friends and family (some of whom were all to eager to suggest some bizarre and potentially embarrassing things!) and I started trying to keep track of everything I was supposed to do and had done (plus the ones I’m too afraid to do). Keeping a blog seemed like the easiest way to update people on what I’ve been up to and hey presto, 250 Things While I’m 25 was born.
Initially I thought the blog would just be a handy way to keep everything in one place but it has turned out to be one of the best bits of my silly project. Publicly announcing my challenge, including posting the full list online, has become the biggest incentive to keep going and to actually do the things on my list.
I suffer from newprojectitis and usually lurch from one new shiny thing (fornight long interest in photography) to another (cushion-making business?!) as the novelty wears off, so keeping a public blog has forced me to stick with my challenge as I know people are watching. As my friends, family and colleagues know about my blog, I know I’d have to explain any lapse in my efforts and that people reading it and following my challenge would notice if I stopped.
Knowing I’ll have to blog about my list exploits also means I can’t cheat (well, not as much as I would do if it was a secret). Though my rules clearly state that it’s my challenge so my rules, I know that any blatant squirming out of a list item will be noticed and that I’ll have to explain myself. Thus ‘I couldn’t be bothered’ isn’t really a good enough excuse. Some of my followers have been all too happy to heckle me via my blog or in person if they think I’m not trying hard enough. Even if I don’t agree with them it is useful to examine the reasons for my actions.
Another bonus of keeping a blog throughout my challenge (apart from the fact that it means I can tick another thing off my list) is that I’m building up a great memento of the things I’ve done (and proof of some of the weirder ones). Seeing my achievements build up is really rewarding, a great incentive to keep going and something to be proud of.
If you’ve got something you want to achieve or stick with you might find that making some form of public declaration, publicizing your intentions and progress are a handy incentive. What do you think? How could you use a blog to help you stick to your goals by making them public? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
This guest post ticks another thing off my list – have a guest post published on a blog. Thanks James! Now I just have to go and blog about it…
November 19, 2009 at 11:04PM
Public declaration of a goal is a great motivator. This is one of the main reasons for setting up my blog. I love the challenge and the feeling of post your declaration, knowing full well there is no turning back!
November 20, 2009 at 09:02PM
I agree about making your goals public, it’s something I need to do more of. Thanks for this great post Jo, good luck with your project!
December 11, 2009 at 08:47AM
I agree that publicly declaring your goals is a great motivator too. However, there are cons to. Your view on what is public and what is not may change over time, and,you may call me paranoid, but I don’t like to give an opportunity for virtually anyone to know about making a simple Google search.
In short, I think that although going public is a great motivator, it has many potential downsides in the long-time. Instead of telling everyone my goals, I prefer old-fashioned personal meetings with my friends to discuss some of the goals I want.
January 1, 2010 at 09:00PM
Konstantin, you make an interesting point and one that I’ve considered as I’ve been blogging. I’ve deliberately kept the content relatively anonymous, though if someone wanted to they could find out more about me (as you say, Google knows everything). For me, the benefits currently outweigh any potential downsides. If any potential future employers, for instance, thought it was unsuitable I’d explain how it has increased my skills and experience in things like accountability, creativity, thinking differently, innovating and experimenting, as well as the skills gained from blogging such as writing, planning and editing.