From the avoidable to the inevitable. Again about goals and about IT

Introduction

On the ways to achieve the goals stated more than once already on Habré, and more than once it was mentioned in other informational publications. People who purposefully move forward are looking for ways to do it more effectively. A small but interesting market was born on this post, which has been actively developing over the last 3-4 years, in particular in the field of IT projects.

Not so long ago, I began to study this area and look for interesting implementations of systems and applications in the field of goal setting and goal achievement. I started looking for a system, but I was not sure what it was. For example, when I was 19 years old, I received a grant to open a company, I did not act on any system, I had a pen and a notebook where I wrote down everything I needed to do that day. But now I understand that a pen and notebook is also a system, from this I concluded that the system is still there, it is needed, it needs to be studied and used as efficiently as possible. But what should be the system?


')

Pen and notebook

The easiest, fastest and most convenient option, but like everything in our world, it is relative. Why? It is very easy to forget at home, to take a whole bag with you, so that only these two things can be put in there. A pen can stop writing, a notebook can be blown away. But these are all secondary causes, they do not directly relate to the effective and inevitable achievement of goals. The nastiest minus of this tool, and the result of achieving the goals depends on it - not all people can be organized and systematically write in a notebook, for someone it just does not work out all the time.

For example, I have been systematically writing in a notebook for 2 years, I have accumulated about 8 of them, and already at this stage I could not figure out where and what I was writing, I was spending a lot of time looking for the right information. But this is not the worst, I repeat once again, in this case the main thing is systematic work with a notebook, but I somehow allowed myself to forget about a notebook for a week, and for two years I can’t return to this habit, I already bought notebooks beautiful, but that didn't help either.

Cloud notes and todo lists

Cloud notebook with categories, search and filters. I made an account on Evernote, but I could not use it for more than 2 weeks. There was a small progress with doit.im, but also not more than half a year, the problem with synchronization with the calendars on Android was mostly annoying, maybe I have already corrected it, but then my time zone was not taken into account, and it was a problem.

Yes, the cloud system allows you to store data more structured than a paper carrier, but more often people say they get tired of the screens, the screen on the computer, the screen of the mobile, I want to touch something soft, rustling, having some peculiar smell that does not heat up, not buzzing and not blinding bright light in the evenings. That is why people are divided into two camps, those who prefer electronic options, and someone paper.

Despite the convenience, the problem of systematic contact remains, which also does not lead to the inevitable achievement of goals.

But in general, what does this mean - the inevitable achievement of goals?

Let's start with the fact that before the goal, there is some kind of dream, and on the way to this very dream, we need to get some results, those very goals. Of course, it’s not a fact that we need this goal, but we won’t find out until we try, especially since each goal promises a certain reward.

And since we set a goal for ourselves, then we need to achieve it, otherwise the body will get used to the fact that you do not achieve your goals, and with each new goal, it will be harder and harder to take it seriously.

And now we answer the question, what is the inevitable achievement of goals? First of all, this is a state where there is no turning back, bridges are destroyed, all that is left behind does not matter, only what is ahead is important. This is a state where not only you are tied to the goal, but also your environment. This is a condition where a defeat has its price, the price that causes discomfort inside. This is only part of the state, but from the above, I think you understand that writing in notebooks, you certainly approach the goal, but the cost of not achieving the goal is small, you are the only one who knows about the goal, which means the chances of going astray are great.

Any development and change is stressful for the organism, so when you set a goal for yourself, you have two options, either you will do it or you will not, but under stress 80% of people do not achieve their goals. The question arises, how to make the achievement of the goal inevitable?

And now the kitchen is about the inevitability

The first and most important thing is systematic , to do something every day to move forward. But how to make yourself do it? There are several ways, the first is publicity , the second is pledge. About the first method, I think you understand, you just need to tell everyone around you that you want to do something, the second - now it is fashionable to call it “the price of the word” (hereinafter CA), you give something to pledge someone (who you trust) before whom it would be a shame to you not to do what you said, and you will get it back if you have results. And the more valuable the thing is for you, the more efficiently you will move, understanding what it costs you to lose.

There are cases when even the publicity and price of the word will not make you leave the comfort zone and start doing something for the purposes. There is one reason for this - this goal does not ignite you, does not motivate, which means that it is either a society or an environment. In any case, despite this, during the week you need to fix for yourself that you are not doing anything about this goal, in order to make a conclusion later - you need to change the goal, or formulate it correctly.

This small instruction will help make the goal inevitable, and get rid of false and imposed goals, but without a special tool it will be difficult to control all the processes yourself, which means you need to automate some processes. And as we talk in the next paragraph.

Target Systems Market

I would like to cite as an example the modern trend, which was born not so long ago, having also formed the consumer market, which to this day is not particularly divided. It is still small, and not as rapidly developing as other markets, but the appearance of a new product on it is accepted with warmth and joy. People really want to achieve their goals! And they believe that there is a system that will help them, and in fact it is.

In the meantime, there are very few such systems, and people use social networks, see what the Vkontakte website gives out, if you type “90 days” in the search box , you will see more than 300 groups dedicated to achieving goals within 90 days, various programs and various directions. Popular media have written more than once about systems, there are examples of very interesting foreign analogues. But the problem of all services at the moment is the absence of all three ingredients at the same time - publicity (1), price of a word (2), systematic (3).

Another problem is services that, simply based on your data, build beautiful graphs that ostensibly show your progress and development in various areas. As long as you fill in all the data, it will take time and energy will go to make the goal itself.

What can you use now?

While I was analyzing the market, I found 4 products that are worth paying attention to. The most shocking of my imagination is Aherk (Goal-oriented self-blackmailing service), the bottom line is that you give your compromising photo to Aherk. The service will automatically post it on Facebook if you do not achieve your goals. In this case, not you, but your FB-friends will decide whether you actually achieved your goals or not.

I honestly did not dare to try, but the service definitely has two ingredients - publicity and the price of the word. Regarding systematic, this process is not automated, but I think if you want your friends to believe you that you do something, then you will write every day what you did to achieve this goal. In general, all the ingredients are in order, and they also put pepper on top. Unfortunately, from the point of view of the business model, the project, as I understand it, earns on advertising, and no other sources feed development.

I think everything about SmartProgress, I heard everything on Habré, the project is developing successfully, it has publicity, there is a price word, but in principle you aren’t required daily reports, although this information needs to be checked, can you correct me in the comments, since I've been in two years did not go to your office.

Then I want to tell you about the project The Game, which was first launched in 2012, its essence is to set 10 goals for 2 months, make a payment of 3,000 rubles, and set tasks for the day every day before 12:00 (one main and if you need secondary), and before 00:00 write to the tape what you did on that day. I participated in this project twice, for the first time I reached 4 of 10 goals, and for the second time I left at 2 or 3 weeks, like many participants who did not like the model 3 versions. I participated in this project, because there are all three ingredients there, publicity, the price of a word (although it is not returned), and systematic, because if you do not write it down more than 2 times a week, you fly out of the project. The main condition is to write reports, no matter whether you did something or not. One of the disadvantages of the system, the project runs 1-2 times a year and works for 2 months. That is, if you want to become a member right now, wait half a year until the project is launched again.

I wanted to correct this mistake, because the service is cool, efficient, and deserves attention, but for the past 3 years I have not gone beyond the framework of one-off games. I wanted to play when I want, not wait. I wanted to set not 10 goals, and not to write about them for 60 days in a row, and therefore I took the liberty to make a prototype of a system of group goal achievement , in which all this is possible, essentially creating the designer of what the game does twice a year .

My idea in the form of a finished prototype, in 30 days I reached the 2 page of popular projects on crowdinvesting platform vcstart.com , having collected more than $ 1200. Unfortunately, I did not have, and there is no command to release, and, of course, resources. Therefore, I decided to write a small address to the Habrasoobshchestvo at the end of this article, because I saw examples, how some interesting ideas were supported here, at least in the form of useful advice.

Thanks for attention.