StepBet - put your money where your steps are!

lolliopopsnrainbows

I've recently discovered the app "StepBet" and have found it so helpful - I thought I'd share it in case anyone else would be interested. You put your money on the line to join a step challenge. Complete the challenge and you get your money back (maybe a little more, if lots of people fail the challenge). Fail the challenge and you lose your money. It turns out that the possibility of losing my money is a HUGE motivator for me!! Here's how it works:

You join a challenge on the app. From what I can tell, they are usually six weeks long and cost 40 US dollars to join (no matter where you live, I'm in the UK and was still charged in dollars). You select your step tracker of choice (including some apps if you don't have a physical device) and the app calculates two goals for you: an "active" goal and a "stretch" goal. These goals are based on your recorded steps for the previous two weeks. You have to achieve four active days and two stretch days a week, with one rest day. If you achieve more than two stretch days then they will still count. Lots of people in the challenge I'm doing are trying to hit their stretch goal every single day. The first week is a "warm up" week where no-one gets disqualified. If, at the end of the six weeks, you have achieved all of your weekly targets then the total pot of money gets split between all participants (minus a 12.5% cut [will be a 25% cut eventually, the 12.5% is an introductory offer]). However, if that payout is less than you paid to join the challenge then StepBet will give up their share to ensure that you get back the money you paid to join.

For me, there is a risk I will end up slightly out of pocket due to changing exchange rates but for me personally it is 100% worth it for the motivation. I am doing so many more steps than I was before, and am a lot more consistent about doing them each and every day (previously I would have entire days where I didn't manage 1,000 steps).

lolliopopsnrainbows

I should also have made it clear that the app tells you what your goals will be BEFORE you pay up!