Most of us has at one time or another decided to make a change that we know would benefit us. There is not shortage of people who want to loose weight, be more active, get the sleep we need, be stronger, or just be able to go for a 5 mile run without being sick. Yet when it comes to putting in the work to reach our goals, the initial enthusiasm quickly vanes.
Conversely, most of us have also had the experience of effortlessly pushing ourselves to perform with one powerful incentive: to win. On the football field, in the boxing ring, or on the tennis court, we push ourselves to be better then others and are motivated by the thought of winning the price as much as we are deterred by the thought of loosing.
Improving our health by walking more, going for runs, or eating better are prone to failure because they are often lonely endeavours without a clear, short term carrot or stick. That’s how the idea for Carrot was born: What if you would have a peer group with similar goals to yours with whom you could engage in friendly competition!
Carrot will enable users to find a group of people with similar goals, and then compete to reach that goal. The Carrot app will show the user what the other group members are doing to reach the goal, which gives you incentive to also take action. It’s one thing to sit in the sofa and think that you “should” go for a run. It’s another to see that Tom just came back from one and he’s going to beat you unless you go too.
but it gets better…
Carrot will also make it very easy to track your own and other’s progress. Carrot will be able to collect data from most popular health tracking devices, such as Fitbits, the iPhone step counter data, smart scales, etc. For example, if you go for a run and use your Fitbit to track the session, the workout you just did will automatically be uploaded to Carrot and your peers will be able to see that you are working towards the goal.
Carrot helps users utilise the natural human motivation to compete and to have a peer group to achieve goals that are normally lonely and difficult to achieve. Seeing what other competitors are doing and the ability to interact and be part of a community will provide the motivation needed to make those new years resolutions more than just beautiful plans.
So stay tuned as Carrot grows!
