We all have things we want to do, but we struggle to find the motivation or time. This is the constant relationship I have with working out. I hate working out. I know it’s important, but I just hate it. So after reading the chapter Why we don’t do what we want to do in Predictably Irrational, I had an idea:

I would withdraw my monthly budget of spending money, in cash and then I’d then give it to my trusty wife. I asked her to dole it out to me in 12 chunks (three times a week for four weeks) and I’d only get it if I worked out. Here’s the kicker: if I didn’t go to the gym, I instructed her to burn the money.

Nothing good could come of me not working out – the money couldn’t go to charity, my wife, a savings fund … nothing. It had to be burned.

Guess what? I’ve worked out three times a week since the beggining of January, without missing a single day. It works.

[Photo credit: http://flickr.com/photos/whitecatsg]