A couple of weekends ago I was at a barbeque and saw a friend lugging around this huge-ass bottle of water. I jokingly asked him why he had brought that from home since he knew there would be plenty of drinks at the party, and he told me he was on a mission to drink 8 cups a day, and that that silly water bottle was the only thing that got him to do it! He had tried a number of other tricks unsuccessfully over the years, but it was something about seeing that big honkin’ thing everywhere he went that got him to accomplish his daily mission.
So of course I had to go out and pick one up for myself :)
[Update: Been going strong w/ bottle trigger for almost a year now! Here’s my update with it, as well as a handful of other great triggers I’ve since come across: 20+ Triggers to Hack Your Life & Money]
As I alluded to last week, I too have failed numerous times to stay adequately hydrated over the years. And if all it took was a cheap $5.00 container to do the trick (I found it at my grocery store, but if you’re lazy you can get one for $8.00’ish @ Amazon ;)) I was all about it! And after almost 8 days in a row of downing every last drop of that beautiful liquid (I slip a little on the weekend, but again I don’t care cuz I’m doing the best I can, dummies!), I can confidently say this trick works. Every time I see it I’m reminded to pick it up and drink from it – it’s as easy as that.
A few days after the bbq I had my yearly check-in with the brilliant James Clear – former blogger over at PassivePanda.com – and being a health that he is, I had to gush to him about my new found glory :) He loved hearing about it, and quickly chimed in with:
“You know what that’s called, right? It’s a “trigger.” Every time your eyes lock in on that bottle it reminds you what you have to do and you don’t even have to think about it. We should all have such triggers for our goals!”
He then went on to share the famous “Seinfeld Strategy” with me, in which a budding comedian, Brad Isaac, approached Jerry Seinfeld backstage one night and asked if he had any tips for a young comic. According to Isaac,
“He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day.
He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day.
“After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.”
BOOM! Another visual trigger to keep you going – I knew that guy was more than just laughs ;) The whole article of Clear’s is actually pretty good, you should check it out when you get a chance. Great tips on how to stop procrastinating…
Triggers, of course, apply to our personal finances too
You’ll hear time and time again that successful people always attach something tangible to a goal in order to help them stay on track. For some it may come in the form of a picture of a dream house or vacation they’re saving up for on their walls, while others could be credit cards on the dart board or a picture of their family to remind them of what’s most important. It doesn’t matter what the trigger or goal is, just that you have it set up and snuck into your normal daily lives so they work!
So step #1 is to figure out the item that motivates you to take the action, and step #2 is to place it in a prime location. Say, like around your desk at work or home, or in the kitchen or family room – wherever you spend a lot of time. I remember reading a different story of a guy who installed a pull-up bar at the bottom of his stairs to get himself to work out more. Every time he went downstairs to get to the kitchen, take a shower, go outdoors, whatev, he’d do a push-up or two on his way and habitually snuck in over 60 a day! Simply by adding a trigger in his natural environment.
Here are some others too, specifically relating to money :)
This one says, “SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!!!!”
(Also, “MY PIGGY BANK CAN BEAT UP YOUR PIGGY BANK!” :))
This is a financial trigger in its purest form. Every time you walk by it you can’t help but check your pockets for change to fill it up! But it can also be a much bigger, broader, trigger as well – reminding you to keep saving for those bigger dreams of yours and never give up. You could even place one in random places to have some fun with it like on your car’s dash, in your underwear drawer, or even the shower ;) All places I hope you at least wee once or twice a day! Haha…
Here’s another… This one screams, “PAY OFF YOUR DEBT!!”
Actually, this one is an INCREDIBLE trigger to put in place, no matter how much you owe and to whom you owe it. Could be used for credit cards, car loans, student loans, or even mortgages (better be some sturdy links, haha…). The idea (and picture) comes from Alissa who was once in $30,000+ of debt and shared her story on Get Rich Slowly:
“To get the ball rolling, I decided that I needed a visual reminder of my debt, something I could look at every day. So I made myself a literal paper chain of debt. I made each link worth $100 and each color group a thousand. Each time I dipped below an amount on a link, I could reward myself by cutting it off. I was so psyched each month when I could cut off more than one link!”
That’s pretty motivating stuff.
And these: “I’m Financially AWESOME!!”
These come from the beautiful, and talented Ree Klein from EscapingDodge.com:
“I keep visual cues (reminders) around me to keep me focused on my goal: financial freedom. I have done various things over the years but one consistent reminder for me has been a set of coasters I made eight or nine years ago… I looked at these every day because they were strategically placed where I spent the most time: desk, coffee table and, yep, the bathroom!”
For Ree it was more about staying positive and repeating affirmations to herself – both visually and in her head once she saw these coasters… So ART can be another way to evoke action/memory! My own painting reminds me that I’ll become a millionaire one day ;)
Lastly, good ol’ sticky notes make for excellent (easy) triggers too
These are two of many I swap around my computer screen, each one triggering a different reminder each time I glance at them. Which is a lot, since my job is to sit in front of the dang thing every single day! The “slow down” note is to remind me to quit wishing for the next hour/day/week to come in order to get my work done faster (I’m a Workie – which is “workaholic” to the lame), and the “simplify” is to prompt me to keep de-cluttering with both physical items and financial items. Like, say, with my latest investing strategy.
You might also remember some of my others:
- “More Doing, Less Thinking”
- “What are you doing right now??“
- “No Mortgages, Max Roths, Max SEP, Max 529”
- And “Wake Up and Do. Nothing.” Which is about having your career/finances on lock and automated so everything’s working while you’re, umm….. waking up and doing nothing. If that’s what you dream of doing, anyways :)
So there you have it. Implementing physical triggers to keep you motivated and on track! And with most of these it literally takes you no time to “be triggered” at all since you do the hard work in he beginning. Which is merely attaching the item to the goal, and then placing it somewhere you’ll see every day. Not hard at all!
Now if I may, I still have 2/3rds of water left to drink today… AND I learn Spanish in the process (opah!).
——–
PS : You may have noticed a few things in the background of that pic up top. Let me explain:
- Egg timer – very helpful in sticking to my one-a-day habits
- The coins in the background – placing them on my desk helps me to appreciate my coins more!
- The Louis Vuitton computer wallpaper – I have no excuse for that, haha… makes me feel richer?
UPDATE: Had to post this trigger Travis commented with below, absolutely hilarious! (And smart): “For some reason it ALWAYS seems like I remember something that has to be done just as I climb into bed and get comfy. So, I reach down, grab one of the bazillion extra pillows scattered around our bed and chuck it across the room. Vonnie will ask, “What are you doing?” My response: “Reminder pillow.” The next morning when I get up, I’ll stumble across the pillow in the doorway and think to myself, “Hey, why is there a pillow laying…..ooooooh yeah, right” and I instantly remember what it was I had forgotten to do the night before. :)”
UPDATE 2: We blogged again about triggers here: 20+ Triggers to Hack Your Life & Money
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I love the idea of the paper chain trigger! I may have to try that with my own debt as motivation. Sadly, I would have to have a lot more chains I think. Darn student loans!
You can make the links higher denominations :) Or better yet, fill up an entire room full of them like bouncy balls and jump around in them! haha…
One TV program featured a millionaire, the host asked the millionaire what was her secret to become rich? And she told her secret, she wasn’t born rich, her family was very poor, but she has a goal and one of them is to be rich and to travel to different countries. She has lots of drawings, like money and places that surrounded by snow. Fortunately, she reached all her goals!
I need some of these triggers. I’ve been so unmotivated lately, and I NEVER drink enough water!
The beauty with starting with water is that it gives you TONS of energy too! I’m feeling MUCH more motivated to get stuff done these days, and the water is really the only thing I’ve changed in the past week or so :) Go out and get that bottle!
I have one of those jugs, too! Unfortunately it was because the water at worked suck and I needed something good to drink during the day. Most days I would drink most if not all of it so I guess I was helping my health! Woohoo!
As far as triggers, I have some I use on my computer, but I probably need to get some up in my house to start motivating me toward our new goals. I bet they’d get done a lot faster!
J$,
Gotta love the sticky notes. One of those looks familiar :) I’m working the simplify sticky this year, big time. Consolidating accounts. My physical trigger on my desk is a page-a-day calendar of beautiful travel destinations. Keeps me focused on goals and what’s important to me. Pics of my kids always helps too.
-RBD
Serves a purpose and inspirational!
Did you just tell me to get a tattoo of a piggy bank on my hand?? I think that’s what I just read. ;)
If you do it I’ll post it up in my next blog post :)
I have Dave Ramsey’s 7 baby steps handing right in front of my computer in my office. It’s a nice daily reminder!
Brilliant!
Great tips! I am a huge Chalene Johnson fan and she talks about visual triggers in her book PUSH. My parking spot at work is a trigger to check my goals before entering the building but I can definitely use one for finances. Thanks for the inspiration!
Parking spot huh? That’s kinda neat. So once you’re parked you whip out notes/book and review career/personal goals? Maybe jot down some new ones? I kinda like that :)
Absolutely…my finances went on that list yesterday after reading this post!
Triggers eh? I have no problem keeping hydrated and the thought it’s caused by a trigger never really crossed my mind. When ever I eat I usually always have water on hand to help wash things down. This habit was only strengthened when I had my braces a few years ago, plenty of water helped keep things clean. Maybe this, combined with rarely drinking pop (What is this soda you all talk about?), sugar juice and coffee, is the reason dentists seem to praise my teeth. ;) [I invested enough money in my teeth and jaw, not going to let all that $$$ go to waste.]
Smart call :)
Great tips J! My water bottle isn’t quite that big, I’ve got 2 Nalgene bottles that stare at me everyday and aim to get them both knocked out by Noon. In regards to triggers, I have a few myself and usually involve some sort of pic of the kids to remind me what I’m trying to accomplish and that they watch what I’m doing. When we’re planning a vacation it’s almost always a pic of where we’ll be going.
Wow you’re good!! I’m lucky if I get myself to drink 1 nalgene in a day! I do drink tea in the AM and 1 or 2 cans of seltzer, but still not nearly enough fluids!
I keep a graph of our monthly income, expense and net worth à la “Your Money Or Your Life” on the closet door of our master bedroom. Having the daily visual as I go to bed and when I get up and get ready in the morning keeps me focused on our goals.
I really do like the paper links though. I might do something fun like that every time we hit the next milestone.
Woahh that’s hardcore! Love that!!
I use a physical trigger to remind me to do something. For some reason it ALWAYS seems like I remember something that has to be done just as I climb into bed and get comfy. So, I reach down, grab one of the bazillion extra pillows scattered around our bed and chuck it across the room. Vonnie will ask, “What are you doing?” My response: “Reminder pillow.” The next morning when I get up, I’ll stumble across the pillow in the doorway and think to myself, “Hey, why is there a pillow laying…..ooooooh yeah, right” and I instantly remember what it was I had forgotten to do the night before. :)
Hahahahahaha…hahahhahah…hahahahhahhhah
This is great! I think I’ll have to try this one out!
I’ve used triggers like this before and still do:
When I was in credit card debt and realized what I was doing, I piled up all of the crap I bought onto my bed and took a picture of it all. Then I carried that picture in my wallet. Whenever I wanted to buy something I saw that picture and it made me think, “it this just going to end up on the pile of crap that I don’t even use/wear?” It really helped me a lot.
Today, I have my financial independence number all over the house. It’s taped to my computer monitor, on my message board on my wall and in my bathroom on the mirror. I see it all the time and it reminds me to keep pushing ahead to reach my goals.
Lastly, not finance related, I bought an activity tracker. I see everyday if I hit my steps goal or not. It’s become an addiction. I have hit my goal every day since November 24, 2013. At this point, I just don’t want to break the streak! My wife laughs when I am running around the house at 11:30pm trying to get in the last of my steps (it’s only happened twice thankfully!)
Holy crap man – you are rockin’ it with triggers!! Wow I’m impressed…. That credit card one is killer, haha… good call.
Yup another great post J. Build great habits by using triggers is the way to go. I have a quote from Vince Lombardi hanging on my wall by my PC. “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” IT is my trigger to keep going with my work.
Great quote! Tweeting now :)
I use physical triggers all the time for lots of different areas of my life, but not for finance. And now, you have me thinking! Maybe a few physical reminders around my house would really keep the positive, success mentality of paying off my student loans in my mind at random times. I like this idea!
That water bottle is a great idea! And I’m gonna steal it.
(The idea – not your water bottle.)
(yeah you better not! my body will hate you! :))
This is great! I really need a visual trigger for my current goal to earn and save $2,000 over the next few months. Have to give it some thought. My sister used the paper chain when paying off a debt last year, and it was really helpful to her!
Call it a “savings” chain instead! Do the opposite and ADD UP a link every time you save $50! :)
I know someone who’s doctor recommended that she drank TWO of those water bottles everyday in an effort to maintain a healthy balance. Every time I see her she always has it, and she is always drinking from it so I’ll definitely back you up when you say that physical triggers reminds us of our goals.
TWO?? I would die from peeing too much.
I use a trigger called thirst. It works great!
That’s my kind of trigger too. Unfortunately, I tend to thirst for coffee, energy drinks or soft drinks rather than water.
Ha I love the pillow idea. I was also not drinking enough water, so now I bought one of those big cups with a straw and have it in my office. Those cups hold 3 cups of water so I make sure I drink at least two of those at work. That thing is bright green so it’s always staring me in the face.
I have to admit that it has worked pretty good. There might be a day when I only drink one (3-cups), but for the most part I drink at least six cups of water at work. I try to take care of the other two at home.
I am a post-it note girl. I love the physical satisfaction of balling them up into tiny balls every time I complete a task. And thanks for the water reminder, I accidentally left my big cup downstairs and have been too lazy to go get it…
I like the idea of crumpling them up :) Though better for tasks than actual “mentalities” yeah?
LOL to the last part of the article. Ever since high school, I’ve been waking up at night and sticking a post-it-note on my door handle.
Great idea! I use a reminder app on my phone to ensure I drink water more frequently than I normally would. I also use it to remind me to take my breaks at work, otherwise I’d probably not get up from my desk often enough.
Hey dude, I mention the same thing in my post today! Ever since getting a water bottle with the bite valve type sippy straw, I’ve been meeting my water drinking goals. I had a barrier of (1) not having a water bottle and (2) not enjoying unscrewing the top of water bottles, and now both problems are solved :)
Yeah girl! Look at us go with our bad selves!
I use a combo approach to the triggers. I have a to-do folder that literally follows me wherever I go and in the folder could be anything from a bill that needs to be paid, to a client portfolio to a list of things I have written that I need to accomplish. I back up the folder with calendar reminders for everything in the folder and things I can’t put in the folder like “take birth control pill.” Then I have my calendar backed up every night because I am convinced that if I lose my calendar, my life will literally fall apart. And I used to do the same thing with the water bottle, but have slacked because I am a workie too and all the water makes too many unscheduled trips to the bathroom. :-)
The bathroom breaks are the worst, right?? I literally got up to take one after reading your comment cuz I had to go so bad! Haha… no joke!
Let’s see what happens if you forget to take your birth control pill ;)
A few of my triggers:
Floss EVERYWHERE! remember how the girl had glasses of water everywhere in “Signs?” That’s me with floss. My trigger is when I see a nice smile on TV, doesn’t have to be a toothpaste commercial. If I haven’t flossed, yet…boom.
Light switches: They are at the exit to every room. As I reach for the light switch, I look around really quick…is there something in this room I should take out? A dish? trash? shoes that shouldn’t be in here? Especially helps as you’re winding down the day.
1440: written on my board. That is how many minutes there are in a day. Next to it, I draw 11 empty tomatoes. Google Pomodoro technique if you don’t get that.
Alarm clock: change your trigger. My alarm clock goes off means I have to brush my teeth. If I am truly exhausted, I’ll go back to bed after that, which happens once every two months. Otherwise…off to run.
I’m liking that light switch one! Especially just to save energy too – I suck at remembering to turn ’em off when I leave rooms :(
I used to have a big @$$ water bottle at my office desk to remind me to drink my 8 cups a day! Unfortunately, my current water cooler isn’t big enough to fit my big water bottle, so I’ve down graded :(
That paper chain trigger is great! I think a lot of it is about habit, too. It’s easier to pick up a habit when the thing that helps you with the habit is accessible. Take your exercise bar example. The guy easily gets in the habit of doing some pull-ups each day, because it’s right there. Well, now it’s even easier for him to get into the habit of doing a full-blown workout each day, because he’s already started with the pull-ups.
Exactly. Adapting to your environment and putting these strategically in the way is key. Can’t get around it even if you tried to ignore! :)
I love the paper chain idea! I’m in the process of making mine now!
Great! I hope you do – let us know how it goes :)
I love your physical triggers so much! I know it can motivate you every day. :) I used my mobile alarm as my motivator to wake up early because I get used to wake during lunch time. And now, it’s so good to wake up early and eat breakfast together with my family which I didn’t do before. ;)
I think I’m going to try to use the Seinfeld strategy to get myself back into working out again.. The only reason I stopped was because I got hurt (ironically from sitting on my butt all day at work) but I haven’t had the motivation to start again.
I hadn’t heard of that one before. Thanks!
And remember my other post too on the times you end up slipping again, cuz you know it’s going to happen ;)
“Do the best you can, dummy.”
I’m laughing at the water bottle ~ not because I don’t like the idea but because I USED TO DO IT!!! A few years ago myself and a group of friends formed a little accountability group to lose weight and be healthy. It was made up of mostly women, but a couple men were in the group. One of the guys bought everyone one of these bottles and challenged us to use them daily. And you know what….it worked!!!!
Just yesterday, I was telling my husband he needed one of these…not because he doesn’t drink enough water, but because I’m tired of him stealing 6 water bottles every morning!
As far as the other financial triggers ~ I am in the process of creating “something” where I can check off the next 6-7 goals we have over the next 3 years. I really like the chain idea though…I remember making those as a kid to countdown for Christmas…that’s a project I can do with my son and create a visual. 2 birds. 1 stone. LOVE IT!
Oh yeah! I forgot we did those for Xmas too – hah! Loved those things…. Perhaps you’ll have to buy him this bottle for his next Xmas present ;)
Awesome looking piggy bank! I think it does help to get in the repetition; now that it is summer, I’m finding myself slacking with the writing a bit, and I think it reflects on the posts… sigh… Kind of like athletics, you just gotta keep doing it to not only get better, but to prevent rust as well.
What’s that old saying? You only get better or worse, you don’t stay neutral… Something like that. Looks like I need to find me some triggers!
Interesting, never heard of that saying before? I feel like that’s not really accurate though? Haha…. people are stuck in neutral all the time in life! Which, I guess IS bad, but kinda just Bleh really.
I love this! Physical triggers are such powerful motivators. So many people, myself included, will create goals that we lock inside of us. We we need to embrace our own goals, it is also very easy to let things slide whether it’s drinking enough water or reminding ourselves to make good money decisions. When I because a financial advisor I bought one of those decorative rocks with the word believe on it. There were very few female advisor (sadly still an issue 23 years later) and it was my focus word. It still sits in my office and when I find myself beginning to doubt, I look at the rock and remember how far believing in myself has taken me.
Awwww that’s cool :) Great story. And even better in another 23 years when you look back!
I always have this quote on my computer screen, “Never compare yourself to anyone; you are only comparing your worst to their best.” It really helps me put things into perspective especially after a long hard day.
I’ve never used anything like that for finances though! Does my net worth spreadsheets count? I love looking through it and seeing how the money piles on.
DAMMMMN great quote!!! How true that is too, jeez…
(Yes, your spreadsheets count especially if you look at it frequently – which I imagine you do cuz you’re a nerd like all of us ;))
I love this! I also need to stay more hydrated. Seems like I’m living off of coffee and wine. :) For me, I want to make my debt payoff process more visual, so I think I might implement those chains and a calendar. For me, I have my vitamins in the kitchen. I see them, I remember to take them. I also have post-its, sticky notes, and reminders. I’ve recently started timing my posts and how long I work on things to keep everything on track.
I have a recurring weekly reminder on my Blackberry that pops up to tell me to “Save Money”. I only set it a few months ago, but it seems to help me stay focused.
Great reminder. I recently started using the Lift app on my phone and that has worked pretty well. I figure the phone is one thing we ALWAYS have on us so why not get reminders to do the things we should be doing. Love the debt links idea as well.
True dat.
Love the post, J! I’m a huge fan of visual cues (or physical triggers as you call them). They have been so powerful in my life. I loved reading the comments, too, because your readers offered some super creative ideas for making them…the paper chain is cool and your painting is AWESOME!
Thanks for sharing my coasters and reminding me to drink more H2O :)
Cheers,
Ree
Your take on money is always refreshing, so happy to share your words anytime! :)
LOL… this post is just awesome. I have two of said jugs….. and totally agree. This trigger fixed my water issue too. I’ve been thinking about finance related things like this lately and haven’t made a decision yet. This post is awesome though. Thanks.
J, have you thought about using password phrases as a trigger? Make your passwords a goal you want to accomplish so every time you log into your laptop, download an app, etc. you’re reminded of a different goal you have set for yourself. BEdebtFREE!2016, DEC15FinishBook, DrinkH20NowJ$ :)
YES! LOVE!!!
So much so that I included it at the top of our recent article on these triggers :)
https://budgetsaresexy.com/2015/04/financial-triggers-grow-your-money/
Thanks friend! You are a genius.