Make slipping cost something
Willpower is unreliable. A price tag isn't. How a KitKat kept me showing up on time — and why the size of the stake doesn't matter.
Planning and a backlog fix your focus. They don't fix the quiet days where you simply… don't. For those you need stakes, because willpower is unreliable and a price tag isn't.
The KitKat rule
I once promised a friend I'd buy them a KitKat for every single day I showed up to the office late. Absurdly small — and it worked, because the loss was:
- Certain — no wiggle room.
- Immediate — it happened the same day.
- Just painful enough — it stung, a little.
The size of the stake doesn't matter. What matters is that it's real, it's automatic, and a person knows about it.
Do this today
Pick one habit. Attach a tiny, certain cost to missing it. Tell one person today.