We all get stuck in behavioral loops. Behavior (and habit) by its very nature tends to promote doing things the same way that you’ve been doing them. People tend to want to stay where they are comfortable, and changing is uncomfortable, so changes are avoided. We want to help you (and we want you to help you) change these patterns. We want you to change the loop that you’re in so that you can be the best you that you can be.
Two ways: Once you’ve begun a mission, you’ll find that people are reading what you’ve written and commenting on it. They might be encouraging you, letting you know how you’ve inspired them, pointing out flaws in your thinking, or sharing their experiences if they’ve faced similar struggles. This will create some accountability on your part since other people will have taken a vested interest in your progress. Second, if you fail to update your mission for a period of ~24 hours, you’ll receive an email from the website. This email will remind you that you haven’t updated your mission; and it will tell you how many times your mission has been viewed since you last updated it. If 25 people have checked your mission to see if it’s been updated (and it hasn’t) you’re probably going to want to let them know what is happening with you. They care, they are interested. You are significant to them, so don’t let them down!
The one you think will be easiest. Success breeds success. Having more than one mission going at a time is an option as well, but depending on the specific missions you’ve chosen, more than two at a time might prevent you from fully focusing on the task at hand.
Through my own trials – I do believe that a habit can be broken and or changed in 21 days because I’ve experienced it…multiple times. I would add that there isn’t anything magical about 21 days but when you combine a new behavior with accountability and a clearly defined plan and a clearly defined goal and throw in reminders and extra helpings of encouragement along the way – I think we’ve got a system that is very, very likely to breed successes. In one of the only scientific studies of its kind, it was concluded that it actually takes 18+ days to form/change a habit (eprints.ucl.ac.uk/16751). They found that results varied dramatically based on many, many factors (with some subjects taking considerably longer than 18 days to see results). I like to think that as loopchange gains a user base, your contributions here will shed more light on the 21 day model than has been compiled in any other research study at any other time!
Yes. I’ve found that the first few days of a mission can seem very easy. I’ve consistently found that days 5-12 are probably the hardest. At that point, I typically hit the wall. I begin to try to convince myself that this mission really isn’t that important…that I don’t really need to finish what I’ve started. I would say those days are the most critical for making sure you’ve got accountability and making sure that you are being encouraged. If you’re struggling, stick with it! The final 8-9 days often come more easily as the finish line is within sight.
In my experience, I’ve found that writing about my progress, struggles, successes and failures is almost as important as the behavior itself. It forces you to think about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Of course, without updating your mission you also lose your army of accountability partners and in my opinion accountability is the most important piece of the puzzle.
There are no plans to ever make the site a ‘pay’ site. It is possible that we will need to introduce advertising somewhere down the road in order to offset the costs associated with upkeep, programming and server space.
The first number (starting from the left) shows the number of times you’ve commented on another person’s mission. Encouraging others and commenting on their missions is an incredibly important part of the process. Become a part of the community; try to help others and you’ll be amazed how much that helps you. The second number (middle) shows how many of your own missions you’ve updated (+1 for every day you’ve updated). This shows others how active and dedicated you are to your own missions. The third number (far right) shows how many missions you’ve successfully completed. Because we know that real life sometimes life is too busy to update your mission every day, we are considering a mission ‘successfully’ completed if you update at least 16 of the 21 days. Compiling numbers in this column shows that you are committed and faithful to the process of changing your habits. A completed mission doesn’t just end at 21 days though. You are free to update it daily for as long as you’d like; but we would certainly LOVE for you to give us updates at 30 days, 45 days, 60 days, 90, 120, etc, etc. We want to learn if the habit change stuck and we want to hear how your life has been affected by this hard work you’ve put in. The color coding is as follows:
If you would like to keep missions private within a group people, you may form or join a "loopGroup." When you start a mission and you are a member of at least group, you are given the option to make the mission "Public" or part of any group of which you are a member. Then, on the Mission List page, under the third filter drop down box, you will be able to view "All" missions or select a group so that only missions part of that group are shown. To form or join a loopGroup, click the "Form/Join loopGroup" link on the right side of the Mission List page (you must be a member and logged in). Follow the instructions on the screen.
A loopGroup is a private group that can be created on loopchange. Missions and comments made within a loopGroup are visible only to members of that loopGroup. Be aware, all terms of service still apply and loopchange administrators can see all content submitted into a loopGroup.
On the right side of the ‘Mission List’ page, you will see a link that says ‘join/form a loopGroup’. Click that link. Find the section for forming a group and fill out the form. You will need to name your group; assign a password and then briefly describe the purpose of your group. All loopGroups must be approved by an administrator. If your application is denied, you will receive a message explaining why as soon as is possible.
loopGroups are for you and your real-life friends/co-workers/work out partners/church members/family/team/neighborhood/etc. Before forming a loopGroup, you should already have people in mind who you’d like to invite. Upon forming your loopGroup, you will receive an email with the name and password associated with your loopGroup. You can then forward that email to those folks who you’d like to share missions with.
If you’ve gotten an email invitation from a group leader, just follow the instructions there. You will need to set up a loopchange account; validate the account and join the loopGroup using the name and password provided to you by your group leader.
At this time there is no limit.
At this time, there will be no limit placed on the number of loopGroups you can join.
Absolutely! We believe that much of the benefit users get at loopchange is from encouraging others. loopGroup members are encouraged to continue to support all users in the public domain. A loopGroup member can also have both private and public missions going at the same time. We want loopGroup members to continue to be involved members in all aspects of the site, not only their loopGroups.
Have a question that wasn’t addressed here? Send a private message to ‘loopchange’ or send an email to admin@loopchange.com and you’ll hear back as soon as possible.