In Delhi, India in colonial times, there was a problem.
Too many Cobras.
Everywhere those bad boys were by all accounts.
So, the government decided to put a scheme in place to reduce these cobra numbers.
A cash amount was paid for every cobra skin (from a dead cobra, of course) that was handed in.
So, a number of enterprising characters set up cobra farms.
Breeding cobras just to be killed to collect the payment.
The government realised this and dropped the payment.
So the cobra farmers released thousands and thousands of cobras into the wild.
Similar things have happened when government have created benefits for the disposal of dangerous gasses.
Companies have hugely increased their production of said gasses just to dispose of them and claim the benefit.
The benefit is then stopped.
And those gasses are just released into the environment.
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It’s what happens when you measure and incentivise the wrong thing.
It encourages the wrong behaviour.
Like when people offer guarantees like “Lose weight or your money back.”
People don’t then lose the weight as the financial incentive encourages them not to.
They end up financially better off if they don’t do what is required.
Is why our system is the opposite.
You pass a challenge and we’ll refund your membership.
## We’ve done so well over 100 times for those that claim otherwise ##
We’ll, essentially, pay for you to lose 20lbs OR drop to 16% (female) or 10% (male) body fat.
As it makes it win-win.
You get to lose 20lbs for free and you’ll probably tell your friends and family about your awesome result.
And we have yet another success story to share with the world.
We don’t want to pay for you to not get a result.
What would the sense be in that?
People sometimes ask “What if I follow the programme and don’t lose the weight?”
It won’t happen.
If you follow the programme, you will.
We’ve never had anyone not.
If you half-arse the programme, don’t lose the weight and throw away your deposit?
Well, that’s silly isn’t it?
I’m not going to take food out of my kids’ mouths because you’ve half arsed something am I?
As we always say at the find-out-more meeting – “Struggling is fine. Needing help is cool. Just not trying? That’s not something we’re up for.”
That find-out-more meeting is tomorrow night BTW if you’d like to find out more about getting to lose 20lbs (or get a beach body) for FREE –> myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting.
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It might be worth looking at how you incentivise yourself.
Is it encouraging the ‘wrong’ behaviour?
Do you ‘treat’ yourself for stuff you do every day either way?
Or ‘treat’ yourself for the ‘wrong side’ of something?
‘Surviving’ a stressful day rather than using stress helping tactics to make the day less stressful for example.
Or do you ‘treat’ yourself with stuff that’s actually going to make you feel worse longer term.
And / or ‘treat’ yourself with something you’re going to do either way.
Whilst choosing to so something else anyway and not considering that the ‘treat’.
After all why does that slice of cake or glass of wine have to be the ‘treat’ and not the workout, watching your favourite programme, new purchase, etc?
A ‘treat’ can be whatever we want it to be and for whatever reason we choose.
Just because most in society consider unhealthy foods and drinks a ‘treat’ for stressful times, doesn’t mean you need to, does it?
After all, most of society is getting more stressed, fatter and sicker year by year.
Why copy them?
Come up with your own ‘incentivisation scheme’.
One that encourages the right behaviour.
Don’t ‘farm cobras’ 😉
Much love,
Jon ‘Wolf’ Hall and Matt ‘Warrior’ Nicholson
P.S. 10 points for the relevance of those middle names.
