Derailing it has [finally?] become nailing it?

Akrasia
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Hey everyone! :wave:

I’ve been using Beeminder for 4 years now, and let’s just say I’ve invested quite a bit! (And consider it a good investment.)

For the longest time, “derailing is nailing” didn’t quite click with me. I understood the idea, but didn’t find it practically useful. More specifically, I didn’t want to let some psychological guards down, and for good reason! Today, something changed (I think!).

I want to share this for two reason: Mark the date and perhaps keep track of how this is going here :slight_smile: and perhaps get into some inspirational conversations to dive deeper into the mindset.

I created a new goal recently [see screenshot] to complement my main running goal, which is to run 3 times a week. Normally, I do about 5k each time, with an occasional longer distance (7-13k depending on the route I fancy that day). Now I’ve got to ensure I hit a longer distance overall for 2024 compared to last year.

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Red line of the complementary goal is creeping closer faster than the main goal. It’s set to 2.55km/day. I run 3 times/week, about 5k and I know that a 4th run in a week is extremely unlikely. So I’m having to check the stats of this goal and making sure each run counts… buy running longer! :man_running:

So far I’ve evaded 2 derailments this way. I clearly noticed the moment where I considered “Run 1.25-1.75 km longer, or risk paying 5$ in 2-3 days.” I literally stood at a crossroad, and defeated akrasia.

I’m kinda happy and motivated that I finally experienced this. I didn’t expect that the confidence boost would be so noticeable.

That makes me consider diving a bit deeper into this attitude. I’m definitely going to read the blog post again… but I’m also open to receiving any remarks from the community! (Feel free to ask anything, I’ll let you know if I want to avoid a certain topic/direction.)

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I should already add:

Since Beeminder has become pledge-focused, I’ve switched back to the free plan. I’m thinking that move may be related to this conversation: “Gym subscription” metaphor would now more directly apply to my derailment payments.

(I’m wary of making this a “What is Beeminder worth?” conversation. But I’m terribly missing the graph editor. I don’t expect to get it for free… I really hope the case for “I’ve paid so much in pledges over so long of a period, now I should get the graph editor.” is obvious and salient to you :slight_smile: )

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Update from almost a week later: Everything I wrote above still holds. The effect is visible on my Strava feed, too:

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Adding a few break days (due to a small trip) meant my daily commitment went up, since my target is fixed:

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Curious how next weeks and especially the first time I derail will feel.

In the meanwhile, I’m thinking about a contrast between Drawabox’s and Beeminder’s approach to: introducing a mindset to people and instilling it.

@dreev’s “blurbs collection” here vs Drawabox’s approach (see most of Lesson 0 but I’m afraid following the course gives a better sense of what I’m thinking about).

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Oh, well, actually: the prototype dynamic version – graph.beeminder.com – is in fact free!

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