Building an Incentive Stack
or, how I am tricking myself into doing cardio exercise
I'm crap at exercising.
While Michael has been exercising on the RingFit (exercise game on the Nintendo Switch) over the past year, I've been totally slacking in comparison.
Many years ago I learned something about myself. I thought I had a mental barrier against doing cardio and sweating. But then I got into Latin dance, and going to weekly salsa, bachata and kizomba events meant I was getting in my cardio at least once or twice a week. The events would often last 3-4 hours at the time, and I managed to have a blast in spite of the sticky, sweaty, steamy environment they were in.
Many years later and precisely less than a week ago, I bought a game, Just Dance 2022 on the Nintendo Switch, with the hopes that it would get me moving a bit more than nonce a week.
I was skeptic in the beginning. I've danced passionate Latin songs with real people... would dancing solo choreo to mainstream songs do it for me?
Turns out it works for me. It works really, really well.
I can play this game for hours with no thoughts about quitting. In fact, I have already developed an obsession so strong with this game that it has kept me up until 3 am on a weekday night already once (shhh… don’t tell the boss!).
What is going on here? Why am I responding so well to this activity, and not to traditional exercises? I had some initial thoughts:
The game is able to take my mind off the act of moving my body, and instead focus on moving meaningfully to the music. Basically, dancing distracts me from the discomfort of the physical exertion.
Another possibility is that even though the moves are pretty intense, it only lasts the length of a song. It makes the duration of intense movement not just short and sweet, but also predictable.
The scorekeeping aspect of the game also helps: for every move I do well, I get higher scores. Players will want to rehearse a song over and over again until they master the moves for perfect scores.
It is incredible what this game is able to make me do, in spite of my distaste for cardio activities.
While there are many books outlining theories about habit building (Atomic Habits, Tiny Habits, The Power of Habit etc.), I am synthesizing all that I know about habits into something that I'm calling the Incentive Stack.
An Incentive Stack is a visceral pile of incentives customized to push your buttons to the point that it would be absurd for you not to do X.
I believe a big enough Incentive Stack can make you do anything, however, the effectiveness of the Incentive Stack depends on how well you know yourself. Some basic things you need to know about yourself include why some things are easy for you to get done, while other things make you want to weasel out of them as fast as possible.
This experience with Just Dance 2022 made me want to explore the incentives in a deeper way, and whether I could somehow harness and replicate the lessons in other parts of my life.
I thought it would be an interesting experiment to use the SMART Goals framework to map out the Incentive Stack at play. Creating good goals overlap a lot with creating good incentives in that both seek to guide you towards a particular result. But instead of focusing outward on designing a good goal, you're focusing inward on designing impetus for action.
Here is my analysis:
S - Specific. I'm not doing any type of cardio: I am moving to songs with choreo that is already pre-designed. All I need to do is follow along, which may not be easy to do, but at least it is a very specific task. It provides cognitive focus and clarity, which incentivizes action over procrastination.
M - Measurable. This one is easy. The game keeps score of your progress, so it's easy to measure if you're improving on your dancing or not. Seeing your score improve incrementally as you gain proficiency is a huge incentive boost to play more!
A - Attainable. With a library of over 700 songs, there is a song for everyone. There are many levels of difficulty, including Kids-specific choreo. Dancing to a song you already know means you can focus on other things, like getting the moves right. Feeling like you can start with a leg up is a big incentive, especially for beginners. More experienced dancers will feel like nothing is impossible, and that it's all up to the amount of practice you're willing to put into it.
R - Relevant. I knew that dance was something I liked doing. Dancing is one of the few activities I can handle that also overlaps with physical exertion. Dance is an art form, and art is one of the things I value the most in the world. So this activity is deeply tied to my identity and things I see myself doing.
T - Time-based. Every song is only a couple of minutes long. Getting to the end of a song feels great, regardless if you did well or not. You're either elated about your performance, or relieved that it's over.
I think the SMART framework works surprisingly well in describing the Incentive Stack that is at play here.
In summary, the Incentive Stack for getting Fei to do cardio is:
S: Make sure the activities are pre-designed and easy to follow. Any decision-making here (other than what fun song to dance to next) is friction.
M: Progress must be tangible to incentivize her to play more to improve.
A: Give the taste of meaningful victory early and often, to train the mind to want it more.
R: Align the theme of the activity with her identity and values.
T: Short interval activities feel more rewarding, as you're often ending at a high, leaving you wanting more. Like a bag of chips, thinking "just one more" quickly leads to empty bags.
And guess what, video games are really good at taking advantage of incentive stacks to get players to play more.
Have you tried to design an incentive structure or stack around encouraging a certain behaviour in yourself? Or, is there something you want to encourage yourself to do but haven't figured out a way to make it happen? I'd love to hear about it!
(I'm also hoping that something here can incentivize me to do my taxes at some point this month and not last minute...)
Give this letter a ❤️ if you enjoyed it!
And as always, stay safe and stay curious.
—Fei🪢
Oh boy! I'm a big believer in incentive in gaming! Haven't played Just Dance before, but I know what you mean about practicing and getting better at it in Beat Saber!