By Liz Belilovskaya
For most of us, getting and staying motivated is a challenge. There’s always a reason to put things off for later. When you get time. When you get some rest. We’re always looking for a better course of action. Then, when we can’t procrastinate anymore or when we get some extrinsic motivation (read: money), maybe we get into motion. Almost everyone has an issue with getting their ass in gear. What if you had a support system to help keep your eyes on the goal?
New York-based start-up, moteevate.com has put together a framework that pairs extrinsic and intrinsic motivating elements with actual action plan construction to keep you honest. The extrinsic part (rewards, pats on the back and other external sources of motivation) comes in the form of “Commitments” and “Promises” that allow users to support or pledge rewards to those they are motivating upon goal completion. To illustrate, imagine a kid getting a trip to Six Flags every time he gets nothing less than a B on his report card. A parent can act as the motivator while Six Flags serves as the incentive for the kid who’s driven to get an awesome trip to the amusement park.
Actionplans found in the Actionplan store, take whatever goals you have and break them down into easy-to-follow, manageable tasks. There are two types of Actionplans: timeline and step-by-step. Clearly, timeline Actionplans are time specific; if you are training for a running marathon in November, there are training instructions for each day leading up to the marathon. Alternatively, Step-by-step Actionplans are not time-sensitive and can be completed at your own pace.
If an Actionplan for your specific goal has not been created yet, you can request one by emailing the moteevate team or you can build your own. A simple goal builder allows members to construct their own plans, choose their privacy setting and invite motivators. A special new Experts module – that is going to be released later this month – will allow users to apply for Expert Status that will grant them the ability to create paid Actoinplans, therefore, make money off the site.
You can also invite motivators to cheer you on. These can be friends, family members, teachers, trainers or fellow moteevate users. If you don’t know anybody who uses moteevate, you can go to the Discussions section where you can find people with similar backgrounds and/or interests and start interacting. When you find like-minded people, just send some friend requests and you are good to go. You can keep up with them through Newsfeed and communicate via chat or email, similar to most social networking frameworks.
All moteevate members control their privacy settings and can make their goals as public or as private as they choose. Broadcasting their progress to via social media is not only possible, it’s recommended since the more people you have cheering you on, the better your chances of success are. Your motivators can utilize the “Boost” function to pep you up if they see you are slacking on your progress or you can request a “Quickfix” if you are in need of a few words of encouragement. Educators can upload their syllabus moteevate in the form of an Actionplan and have students download it and track their progress on any assignment.
If you have issues with getting momentum on your side and getting your stuff moving, or if you have other professional needs that can possibly be furthered by this kind of support, take a look at moteevate.com.
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