My belt is holding my pants up – and it’s holding me back

I have a great belt. I like the way it looks (even though it’s getting a bit worn,) it’s comfortable, and it’s easy to put on.  I’m on the last hole (i.e. the tightest setting) and I’ve been there for two years now, which always makes me feel good.

And, amazingly, I’ve weighed about the same for the past two years, no matter how I eat or how often I go to the gym.

I’ve finally realized it’s all my belt’s fault.

Two types of achievements

Gamification has brought about the idea of achievements in many aspects of life, and even if there’s no system in place to actively track them, I’ve found myself thinking in terms of “unlocking” achievements a lot more in my day to day activities.

Progressive achievements are the ones that lead to the next one.  So, in my belt example, tightening another notch would be an achievement, and there’s a path to the next hole.  Of course, you also want to keep that achievement (like defending a mayorship on FourSquare) which leads to the other type of achievement:

Maintenance achievements are about keeping what you’ve got.  They’re still something to be celebrated, and they still take work, but for a lot of them they become unconscious rituals and pretty much take care of themselves.

The problem comes up when an achievement is maintenance-only, like with my belt, where I’ve hit the last hole and I have nowhere to go. From that perspective, I now understand why those last 20 pounds are sticking with me. Or that’s the theory anyway.

So I need a new belt. Why didn’t I get one before?  Because I liked being at the last hole.  It was an achievement I was proud of.  And switching to a mid-belt hole will take that pride away, and stupid little things like that drive us way more than anyone really can imagine.

And no, this isn’t a metaphor, I really do need a new belt and just wrote 300 words about it.  But it’s pretty obvious to me now that there are lots of other things in my life that are holding me back because there’s no mechanism set up for advancement and all my work (and it’s generally easy, comfortable work) is spent in maintenance mode.  You’ve probably got a few belts in your life too.

Thankfully, the annual Vegetarian Food Festival is this weekend, and I’ll be going, not just because the Toronto Vegetarian Association is a client, but also because TRUTH Belts will be there, and they’re going to help me level up.  We’ll see in a few months if this is the stupidest or best insight I’ve had today.