Improve Yourself While Helping the Secular Students

Want to lose some weight, exercise on a more regular basis, eat healthier, or do anything else to improve yourself?

The Secular Student Alliance is giving you the motivation you need to do that with our Carrot and Stick project!

The rules are pretty simple:

1) Make a measurable self-improvement goal (how much weight to lose, how many push-ups to do)

2) Decide an amount to pledge

3) Choose an organization you would hate to give money to — this is your “stick”

4) Write out checks dated March 31st to both the Secular Student Alliance (this is your “carrot”) and the organization you chose in step 3

If you reach your goal by March 31st, send the check to the SSA and rip up the check to your opposing organization. If not, you have to send the check to the ‘stick’ cause instead!

The SSA’s Executive Director August Brunsman used this method over the past few months and it worked wonderfully:

Of course I’ve tried dozens of times before to lose weight. By deciding to tie specific consequences to getting down to 175 lbs. by the end of the year, I was suddenly more motivated than ever before to make the hundreds of right choices, big and little, I needed to get there. After I made my pledge public, I knew I had only three choices: behave in such a way as to lose the weight (acceptable but hard), publicly admit that I was sending money to Campus Crusade for Christ (very painful), or lie (very, very painful).

Jen McCreight‘s doing this, too, and she’s already lost a few pounds in the process.

I plan to join in on the action after the Speech season ends at the end of February (I’m at school late most of the next month practicing with students and working out just isn’t on my radar when I get home). But come March, you all have my permission to force me to lose weight.

There’s just over two months to reach your target goal, so take advantage of the situation. By bettering yourself (however you want to define that), you’re also helping others in the process.

This is a win-win opportunity.

Unless you lose. (In which case I’m really curious where your check would go to.) But please don’t let that happen.

Good luck!