Topic: Bets for Self Improvement: What are good challenges? (Read 879 times)

You are both assuming that the price will keep increasing however based on history data of all cryptocurrencies they usually correct hard that’s why this method might result to more severe losses of you manage to keep buying while the price keep sliding since the current price is still at peak.

I’m not saying it’s a total bad idea but it can give worst losses in case the price keeps beating your bet badly.

I’d rather do something physical as punishment like doing push ups or something when my bet is loss.

This kind is a friendly bet so people tend to enjoy with their friends to have a casual competition, this could be take as a fun only not unless other side take it seriously much, like let's say other friend would like to beat you in your friendly match and become competitive so they are getting serious to make a bet and make their ego more aggressively with the bets so if they win it's good to them because it's additional advantage but if they lose possible they might chase more their losses and hopefully not to drag into debts. But if you both enjoy the game it's okay just casual meal to have it. Personally I tried to my friend so we give each one an item into dota2 that we can sell too and enjoy the cosmetics

Actually they're catching fun, they are not betting, if they serious in betting they most be a deposit from it, but I know that if seriousness comes in, I believe that they will come with deposit, what you said make sense, because one person can decide not to abide on their existing agreement, so what they needed to have a third party or a central place to deposit, so that anyone that win the third party will give it to the person, I can only participate in this kind of gambling when I know that is a just a play.

Usually, there is use a target to achieve and both side serious doing that. The third parties will helps to watch out and guard both so they will not cheat. When the third parties can do the job, no one will do something and the bet will run smoothly. It is good if we do bet like that because that can useful for us to have self improving. Maybe we can try with betting in discipline so that will help us when we playing gambling.

This is not a bad idea, it will only make the individual to accumulate more Bitcoin or any other coin they are investing into but we can not really classify it as a real type of gambling because in real gambling scene, there's always a win or lose from the from the player.

I'll tell you what I do for self-improvement, I set goals to myself and restrict myself from getting things that I love. For example, I set to myself that if I don't gain 5 kg of muscle and don't reach 10% bodyfat for the summer, I won't buy myself good clothes. And this thing works very well for me because when I want to buy something and I know that I have money and the only thing that makes me to punish and restrict myself is the goal that I didn't achieve, that is what gives me motivation and dedication to do the job.

DCA challenge? this would surely improve someone's portfolio and finances for this bull run. Set some money that you can do every week and try to add that up for as long as you can be.

Record the entire amount of how much has been added to the portfolio through this strategy and once it matures or when the market is up and high. Calculate how much gain you get.

This is a good way for someone to check his finances and also teaches ourselves on how to be disciplined if we've got some goals to make. The challenge isn't needed by the others that have been doing this for so long.

It's a good one tho pertaining self improvement but I think such games third parties are always involved and sometimes if both parties can be true to each other then such bets can be held, I had this with a close relative and it was worth it tho the person won over me and took the money for the agreement bets which is cool, they are good and should be done on few occasions not on a daily basis.

lol I try and make them.  Honestly money is of course such a large motivator for so many people out there that why wouldn't you take advanatage of bets like this is what I'm thinking.

I am constantly making fun of my buddy who every time we see each other ( he lives in another state ) he always says by the end of the trip " Nah for real I'm going to start losing weight, getting in the gym and eating better".   I always laugh.  I have lately started saying , "yeah you always say that".  He replies "I'm for real this time" .  So now I say "okay, then lets put a bet down on it".  He wont lol. 

rarely you fund this type of betting Story because it's not common, but i guess this types of bet do exist but usually within friends who work together.

Self improvement does not require to be gambled on, but just to bet against each other to improve their healthy lifestyle.

It's not also a bad idea since its just a way of having fun while improving your health.

I can't remember making bets for self-improvement. But I have made countless of bets on so many things outside sports. I guess this is normal in my country. Arguments about pretty much anything under the sun could be settled with a bet. It's like a short cut to end the debates and the arguments. Just put your money where your mouth is if you're really convinced of what you believe in.

Anyway, it might help you push harder if it isn't just a single meal that's at stake. Try something that hurts your wallet more.

This just reminded me of the last bet I had back then in my secondary school with my seatmate, who now happens to be my best friend. Then there was this popular social media (2go) that was trending for us then.
 
We placed a bet that among the two of us, whoever came out as the best student at the end of that academic section, the loser would send the other person a certain amount of go credit. It brought out the best in us, as there was something of interest for both of us at stake. It was fun back then; aside from that, I don't think I have gone into such a bet again.

Often betting on various things with friends and trying to win the bet can certainly give a different feeling. I myself have often bet on various things. Usually, if we bet on a task that is difficult with our friends, then we would be able to do that task very easily. Because if I lost in that bet, I would have to treat those friends. That is why I tried my best to win the bet. It is not just that a few of us did it, but I saw many people around us who used to bet on different things at different times. I enjoyed this type of bet very much. Because of this type of bet, a person's interest and ability could definitely be identified.

If one bet on quitting smoking base on health challenges, then one do not have to doubt on it because it is going to come as exactly expected by the party involved, health issue is not what to play with, if it were to be other things involved, i may doubt quitting but once its all about health challenges, quitting could be inevitable and one does not have to be persuaded before making it a permanent thing in life, one could as well gamble it and get it all right on that aspect.

And how will the fact be regarded if, after all, after, for example, 10 years, you start smoking again? Will it be considered that you have won the dispute against your wife? A deadline must be set for such bets, otherwise the dispute will not be completed until the last day.

How about setting up a possible gain for this bull run and then bet against yourself that you'd be able to do that? And if you're not able to hit those numbers then you'll invest more or do something meaningful for yourself. That's a win win situation you have there and it's only against yourself for which you have to hit those numbers or you'll improve more which means in both sides, you're goaling to improve either ways.

Speaking of that kind of bets, I had similar bets with my wife, It's not monitory rewards but for my health as during that time and it was in the heart of pandemic, and we all know the symptoms of it like heavy coughing which is also one symptoms for a smoker.

So we bet that I can stop smoking for good, and moving 3 years, I actually did the impossible of quitting it for good, and take care of my health till now. I guess it could be as a effective measures to other as well to make that "bet" and challenge ourselves or others to improved themselves. And probably this could also be one positive of gambling.

Very well said because push up have to do with endurance to Carry your body wait for a long number of times, and the ability to do push up is based on consistency, that is to say that for someone who have a 100 days straight up push up training, he will have more endurance to do push up than someone who hasn't being doing push up at all, so for one to make a bet with such physical strength something you must have gone through the same level of training and also feed on same dient for a while before being out together to carry on on such an excess challenge.

It's will totally be out of place for co work to engage in such a bet because the level of mr A push up strength won't be same as Mr B and that will affect the outcome of such a game, although if the bet is just for fun, then that is acceptable for co worker to encourage each other to do some exercises, and being motivated with a little token, but it shouldn't become a habit to bet on such self improving activities such as push up, jogging and the rest of what have you.

I have seen few co workers in groups organizing excesses for themselves most especially on weekends when they are off from work, but betting with in themselves have not been something that I noticed a lot of times,.

Well, such bets as this (I would say) are not for really serious and busy people, I myself have once tried betting to do a certain amount of push-ups every day, and I did it the first day, but as from the second day, I have completely forgotten about the bet, I only remembered after about a week later, I was very disappointed but on the other hand, I did not blame myself much because aside the time I spend online, I am always physically busy with alot of things, and thank goodness I did not enter this bet with anyone, so, there wasn't anyone to pay anything to except myself for not completing the planned push-ups.

Betting on self improvement stuffs is good, it's fun, and to be honest with you, I wouldn't consider this to be gambling, it's not gambling because that bet only acts as an encourager for you to try to do that which helps you improve on yourself.
So, I am not against bets like this, but like I said, I do not consider it's as part of gambling.

Self improvement is fine, but why mix that with betting on the goal?

Goals in self improvement give emphasis on the process and not always the outcome, because often the outcomes takes years and years of hard work.

If it encourages you to pursue the improvement, it should be avoid of any bias or cheating, but I would still keep betting out of this. Maybe a imaginary bet would suffice but definitely not real money.

I can do 30 pushups a day but I would not bet on increasing that - it would rather break my form I would rather progress with smaller rep increases.

I did this with my dad more than a decade ago, I even put checkpoints where he gets a reward every 30 days. sadly he wasn't able to fully quit smoking but his smoking habit did reduced quite a bit after he gave up on our bet. anyway, fast forward to now, he barely smoke but it has something to do with his worsening health than out actual bet.

Your post is contradicting. I am fixing my mind on something wrong but you also like the thing which is betting with money on gambling sites.

I do not have to self improve myself with such bet. If I determine self improvement, I do not have to bet to meet what are necessary for it to happen.

You are fixing your mind on the wrong thing, the goal here isn't about getting money from each other but facilitating the journey of self improvement. Even if they don't end up fulfilling their side of the bargain there's no harm done because that challenge would make the individuals work on themselves. Asides from this I don't think it's a good idea to get involved with people in anything pertaining to gambling, because Humans act different when there's money involved in something. I also prefer to bet in casinos or bet centers instead of doing it with people but I love the idea of betting for self improvement.

When I was much younger, we bet each other on various things... It wasn't for self-improvement, it was the desire to win and to show that we can do more than others. From push-ups and other physical exercises to speed typing and memory games. I guess that's how it goes with most men, we're competitive, we want to win and show what we can do, so why not spice it up with a bet, it always makes everything much more interesting.

As you wrote, in some cases we didn't bet money but on some little things... whether it was a meal for two, some sweets or even just juice. The point was in the competition itself and proving something to someone. Now I rarely bet with a friend about something... I no longer have the desire to prove it, when I feel like gambling I just turn on some crypto casino and that's it.

That is only for fun without any intention to reach a goal but that is good release stresses because we can enjoy the game we play. But if they use a gambling for a self-improvement, they must have serious to play so they must be careful and try to win the game. Maybe reduce our weight will be a good bet between us with our beloved one so we can achieve a goal for our healthy but that will need discipline to be the winner. The purpose of this bet is get something for their life and that is not just for self improvement but also for their health. But this is rarely for people because that will not use money as a bet.

Well it's a nice betting strategy to add up for those slim daddy like you .  But Surely I havent tried such bet before maybe I will tryout some day. Even if i where to try it out,  reverse will be the case because I need to lose weight instead of adding up.

I don't think there is anything wrong with this type of bet even if it's not a regular type of bet.  Afterall people bet on Trump and kamala who to win,  people bet on horicane Milton category 5  and of course people bet on country to experience war. So yours is not different from theirs.

Yeah this is worthy of betting since it is challenge that will inprove a healthy lifestyle, just like the push up till bitcoin hit $100k thread. but that challenge is not a betting competition.

Yes, this wont really be taken up seriously specially if your friend is a type whose a bit silly and wont really be that trying out to get serious but on the moment that we are talking with some big amounts on here then everything would really be that taken seriously on which its true that if we do deal up with something and bigger amount is at stake then it will really be taken up seriously. Self improvement kind of bets are really that indeed beneficial on someones being on which at the moment that you are trying out to make up bets on which does involved body or health related kind of betting or challenges. You arent that just that having some chance on making up some money but also you do become that healthy too.

Its not really that necessary on making up some bets into someone if you are really that planning to have a good body shape on which you can always do things without involving money if you wanted to.
There are really just those people who do really love on putting up some bets to make things a little bit more interesting on which i couldnt blame them on. There are indeed people who do really love on involving money for them to be that become interested into something.

You won't be serious in betting as there is no money or substantial reward on the line. So I don't think it can really help you improve your skills if there's no motivation to exercise your skills. But the story the OP presented is doable. However, if you are lazy to complete your goal, you can just let buy him the meal. But if you care about your weight also, it will give you further motivation to achieve such target even not thinking of the bet with your friend.

Most likely, these kind of bets will not be taken seriously especially that it’s not mandatory after all. Except  if there is big rewards, be it with money or an expensive gift, that is waiting ahead. Betting would sound different when there is no real money involved, especially if you are dealing with a real gambler. But maybe for a good cause, self-improvement particularly, that could work somehow, but not guaranteed.

I loved your story and, yes... I've already participated in a similar bet with my wife that turned into a journey of transformation for our health.

We challenged each other to lose weight... me three and her five (don't worry... she had a lot more than me  ). We dedicated ourselves to the gym together three times a week and on the weekends we walked in the park. The bet stopped being something individual and became something collective, a pleasurable activity that we did as a couple. Obviously we achieved our weight loss goals... she lost a lot more than I did 

No one won the bet either, but the health benefits we achieved were much greater than the bet itself.

I think that bets like these, especially when shared with friends or loved ones, can create unforgettable memories and strengthen bonds.

This was our common practice while growing up, until responsibilities dawn on us and made us more serious with chasing bigger money and not the peanuts we could collect from friends that always end in fights and argument which are also settle during football time same day. I can't remember the last time I did that though but I know some people still do especially when it come to their favourite clubs playing. I think this is mostly done for fun and not necessarily for the money because the amount committed is usually insignificant for both parties.

I ever made a bet with my spouse for guessing a weather on that day we made a bet, and if one of us can guess it wrong or right, we can do what everything he/she wants, and finally she won, so i treat her for meal as she wants. I think it's not kind of self-improvement, but that thing could be an option for self-improvement challenge, for our spouse, friend, or family. In other case, me and my friends sometimes do a challenge to stop talking about negative things, like talking about someone's bad, and other, because we think it really bad to talk negatively. So, i think this could be an alternative way for self-improvement as you said.

I involve myself in bets like this quite often than I bet on sports or casino based games because I know the importance of those activities to my health. I have once bet on going months free without alcohol and we had to do regular tests at different intervals to make sure that none of us involved in the bet was cheating. I also quite smoking because of bets like this as I was once an active smoker but I do not do that anymore although I still drink beer and alcohol but not regularly as I was doing before. Those types of bet are good for us as they help us to improve on ourselves and become better individual. I have not bet on academic before or getting a new skills but I think I will have to introduce this to my friend group and they will be happy to participate.

I probably lack such a friend nearby to make such challenges. But I think that this is just great, because it allows us to decide on those things that we would not even think about alone. 50 push-ups a day is great, but in things that are measured in time, you need persistence and constant repetitions, which can kill interest. Unless something valuable or unusual is at stake. Surely there are sites where you can create a group challenge, keep track of actions and at the end compare with other participants, but here the main thing will be the honesty of the participants.

Well, you can bet on getting rid of a bad habit. It will be a strong incentive to really do it. Of course, smoking comes to mind first. In case of winning, the person reaches his goal and still wins the bet. Otherwise, he realizes that he is a weak-willed bag and, in addition, loses the bet. Of course, I did not make such bets myself, since I quit smoking solely in my own interests. There's nothing too hard about it. However, weight is being added, and quite a lot.

I like the idea, but I wouldn't do it because I'm lazy. Gaining weight is way easier than losing weight.
50 pushups a day is too much for me. I've never seen anyone betting money on his own self-improvement goals. Maybe you should develop this idea and create a betting platform, where the gamblers should bet on such self-improvement goals. The problem would be finding a way to verify the results, since most gamblers would try to cheat the system. Maybe the gamblers would have to record themselves on video, in order to verify that they have achieved their goal and take their profit.

I lost such bet 20 years ago (my bet was that i stop smokking). After it i just set the goals and try to achieve it without any betting. Few times i made such bets with my wife. She needed it, so i tried to help her. As the result she lost several times and we stopped such betting. It was, studying foreign language, losing weight, something else, i fon`t remember. No one time she won. But i get with my goals winrate at least 60%

I have few friends on related runs with me, back then in the high school, I and my group of friends usually stipulates on betting on who amongst us will have the best result at the end of the academy terms, we actually engages on such bets to encourage ourselves because be realistic, we were so unserious with our studies and we thought of making too results and be intellectual enough to be make our parents proud even when we are still living our rough lives.

It is like... Let us stick to be dedicated to our studies even when we get to act like we ain't serious about it, that is to take those seeing us unserious unaware and I shock that despites the rough live we lives we are still dedicated to our studies.

That basically brought us to be studious and serious with our education through the concepts of making a group bet to who will take the winning.
So positively encouraging as that.

These bets are fun but they are not sustainable for long-term self-improvement. I engaging names of the time which colleagues. And they don't have to be or have financial rewards for the completion of goal. If you are a superior, it could be a break from work, if you are a friend it could be gifting the person their favorite and affordable items, an all paid visit to their best place and more. This should not be continuous if not, it's effect will wear off.

These are healthy ways of making competence between friends and colleagues. As the bets were simple and not big money was involved, these will not create any problem. Some might take it seriously, while the majority just take it as a game and just spend for their friend. When money is involved, people see it differently. When we consider it a meal or small money, they'll have the mentality that there's nothing wrong in spending it for a friend, and they won't take the bet seriously. These are part of fun and can be effective with a dedicated person, and not everyone will succeed with these kinds of self-improvement tasks.

This is an interesting one. The more you want to win, the more you become eager to change yourself and improve. Like getting yourself out from vices, that’s actually a perfect bet. The problem is if you can endure a day or week without smoking, that’s really a great challenge especially for a chain smoker. Luckily for me, I don’t have a struggle with smoking, I already quit long time ago.

If money is not involved in this, then we may assume to be instinct bet or daring kind of bet that does not have to do with us playing games from the gambling platform, this is just a personal kind of desperation or dare we take on each other in other to know how strong or weak we are in doing something, but some could actually include money to their own, but i doubt it if they can fulfil the payment terms except a third party is involved and with the money to give the winner, because this is more of a personal or friendship bet and some may not take it serious like that.

Yes, my friends and I systematically make bets. For example, not to be late for a meeting, whoever comes last pays for coffee, this has already become a tradition. It is also connected with sporting events, if the forecast does not come true, he buys beer for the whole company, or if it does come true and he hits the jackpot, the beer is also at his expense. Such disputes are more about entertainment and not about profit, it is more interesting to spend our time together since we do not see each other that often anyway and this adds its advantages for seeing each other a little more often.

As long as money is involved, we can go to any length with making bet with other people concerning anything we so desires, if we are privilege of hearing about what some other people are making bet on, it will surprised us that some could actually bet on things like this and that, but just for us to know our guts, ability and also remain the same experience personality we are, its important that we bet and gamble, such could also help some improve on tier self as it has been given from OP explanation discussed.

There is actually. Have you read what the OP have said above? He said that whichever wins, will be treated by a free meal. It is just that both of them achieved their desired weight, so none has been treated by a free meal. Maybe you think it was only just a meal but we still spend money to buy a meal.

Moreover, meal is only an example but it is still up to us if we prefer a cash or some thing. In gambling, it is only normal to experience a breakeven, and a loss, apart from a win. For a type of bets like this, maybe we can also up'ed its game by involving legal documents, especially if the stake is high, so that we are sure that we will get a good game, or one will just quit unexpectedly, especially for a non-valid reason.

You don't bet with people but then you still go to a casino or a bookies which was still operated by a people/person , although, you might mean to say that you don't like a bet like what we have in this thread, or so-called friendly bets, or PVP (player vs player). Well, fine if that is your choice. For others, this is a good way for them enjoy gambling with less stress/pressure in their heads. There is no, or only less guilt on here, so the chance of us to become addicted is only low as well.

Sometimes some folks do set a certain amount of money in such occasion just to make things more exciting,  that whomever gave up first will pay the other , so with money on the line both parties will have to take the challenge serious till they finally hit that target goal or until one endup given up and paying the other .

I have seen people do crazy or sane stuffs just to prove a point. Some do get better after putting in the discipline and effort needed to achieve their goals while others slump back in to the bad habits that prompted the challenge to get better in the first place.

Any good personal challenge or with another person challenge, tagged to a good goal can be achieved with outstanding results.
 The challenge I feel helps out for better improvement may be simple tasks being completed daily for a duration that's okay and it could be simple as a 30day no candy challenge for weight loss, 100days push ups challenge for BTC accumulation or for steady trading, 52 days skipping ropes for improved mobility and others that may help one achieve their aim but not being a serious inconvenience or stress in the process.

well, since the whole idea was base on gaining weight like he said, which is absolutely Self-beneficial, I guess it'll be a better satisfaction if the said target is met, than a meal is served or paid for. (I dunno if you get my point?) Nevertheless, it is what it is... Lol

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OP, we got a thread for pushups already, although it ain't on this board, but there's a good level of participation in there already... Would you like to make this official then?

"if one does good, it's for himself just like when he decides to do evil"
Some results are strictly observed by one's own self. If they decide to lie to themselves simply because they're not facing a camera to attest what they do IRL, they're just gonna get caught up with the reality of it sooner than later.

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BTW, how many pushups can Lovesmay go ?? I'm a bit curious... Or maybe we could try?

Many of us used to make bets with friends when we were teenagers. In my opinion, it's just fun and it doesn't really matter whether these guys are motivated by paying for lunch or something more insignificant. The point of betting is to achieve a goal. If this activity helps guys to improve themselves and does not negatively affect others, then let them do it as much as they want. As far as I know it doesn't cause gambling addiction, so way to have fun with it. Most of us have a passion for such entertainment disappears as soon as the adult independent life begins. 

This is a very interesting bet for someone to come up with a friend, to have a bet on themselves on both self-improvement. To make the self-improvement bets to be taken seriously, betting with something tangible will make both friends more serious about it than buying a meal, which is nothing. Someone can decide not to have self-improvement on themselves at the end of the exercise because they see it as nothing to lose at the end. But betting on something that will cost both friends something, there will be some level of seriousness about it because a friend wouldn't like to lose on a bet because of a simple task he or she can do

Yeah I have had such experience even if not directly and not necessarily on improvement. Some kids in the family have friendly "bet" with their siblings to forfeit some portion of their food to the winner. Like while growing up, some children bet on the return of either of their parents who had travelled on a particular day. They do such bet because they are missing that parent and so they are in expectation of the return. Another kind of bet like that is probably in video games like play station, some friends do bet on the best player and winner.


To stop myself of a habit not worth it. Like for example during the end of the year, many smokers bet on themselves to stop smoking but whether they go back to it is another discourse. 


I know weight lifters also bet on the amount of weight they can lift. However, I may bet on myself to be able to achieve something or improve myself like reading a particular book or doing a particular thing that have been difficult to do but it is not monitory bet

Sounds tiring as hell. If I were to ever bet on something to challenge myself it'd probably be something related to either programming or drawing? E.g. draw X characters in Y days. I've done Inktober before and I'd honestly consider that one as a challenge. It was difficult as hell since I always, ALWAYS procrastinate my drawings. Like the moment it just becomes off in my eyes, I stop and put it in the storage for days before even touching it, if I even do lol.

Something recent in my social media feed that's been popping up were marathons. Bunch of my friends and their acquaintances have been sharing milestones of marathons they've been doing. Sounds kind of fun really.

I enjoy making friendly bets with friends, and I find it helps me relax and have fun. I've made a bet with a friend for next year. We've challenged each other to consistently post content on social media for the entire year. Additionally, we've committed to exercising in the morning and drinking water before starting our day.

This bet will help me improve my online presence, skills, and overall well-being. Since we're doing it together, we'll be accountable to each other. Initially, we didn't put a monetary value on the bet, but I'm now considering adding one to make it more challenging.

I believe that not everything in life should be about money. Sometimes, you just need to take it easy and enjoy the journey. This type of bet can help build friendships, make them more enjoyable, and even help you achieve goals you never thought possible.

Having someone to do it with and putting something on the line can be a great motivator. I highly recommend trying this type of bet with your friends.

When talking about self improvement, what crosses my mind first is the need to drop some habits we term as not good or not healthy, probably quiting them totally and for those who gambling has not been something that has helped them, it's one they will want to quit and the fact that gambling has got addictive tendencies is another one to put to consideration, all of this added together makes me see some level of contradictions in trying to use gambling to get people into developing a good habit where by they can develop addictive tendencies using this method, maybe they could ply another route and still get same results, that way they get even better results from my understandings without necessarily having the gambling tendencies interfering.

Is actually a funny way to gamble because of the nature and I have not done it before but however considering the intention at which made you guys to do such gambling is very nice because to some persons who want to gain a weight or lose a weight it could be a welcome gambling to them into having a full motivation of getting such results at the end because they would be too eager not to lose the game, however this kind of gambling is very far from casino gambling or sports games because you will not have to do any exercise, so all you have to do is just eating, so actually the only side that involves sports is the parts of losing weight because you would have to exercise.

Things that are difficult to verify in the anonymous internet world such as in this forum, doing challenges like that as well as we try the honesty of others with themselves in carrying out their responsibilities, I also see the thread but I really doubt the people who run the push ups, Only themselves are sure, and we don't know the reports are true or not they have done it.

This kind of thing is much better to do off line, it will be very pleasant and very helpful for the development of our bodies to be better and fit, but for autistic and too introverted people, like most internet hunters, very lazy to socialize. LOL

I am not sure about that but I guess that is happen in a long time ago when I was a student. We are 7 guys who have a near home each other. We meet daily and are always together. One day one of my friends challenged us to eat noodles but with chili and whoever can eat the most chili will win and get a prize in the form of free lunch for a week from the 6 losers.

Only one guy succeeded while the 6 guy can not do that. So he gets the prize of free lunch for a week.

A similar challenge is already taking place in the neighboring thread on push-ups in anticipation of the Bitcoin price of one hundred thousand. However, the problem is that it is unlikely that each of the participants conscientiously does everything they write about. The same is true for any competition held on the Internet. If we talk about confidentiality, and most users of this forum will prefer it, you will not be able to verify the authenticity of the push-ups (for example).
But making a bet for a certain amount offline is always fun. Improving your body is useful not only for your health but can also set a good example for everyone around you.

When it comes to physical related kind of betting against other people or with a friend or known ones then i havent been able to experience it out but if it is related into some activity like some daring kind of betting then pretty sure i have done it with other people. The bet amount isnt really that too big but something that will really be significant on something that give out some thrill at least when it comes on betting with other people too when trying out to do something. We do know that on the time that we are just starting then we do usually starting up with these kind of betting not literally on gambling games or casinos but with these kind of actions made out basing up on someones interest or with a group or some individual. Adding up bets or money involved does really spice things up and thats why there are tons of people who are really that fond on doing these stuffs. If this one talks about shaping up your body then it does really give out that positive effect specially to your health on which we can say that it isnt really that bad either.

There was a similar contest in our company before called "The Biggest Loser." It was quite interesting, especially for overweight people, as the prize motivated them to participate. I was tempted to join at the time when we were called in and the HR in charge gave a briefing.

But I knew I didn’t stand a chance in that contest because I was pretty undisciplined back then. You know how it is during our younger days - we’d rather go out for drinks than focus on fitness. I figured it just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed competing with other guys. We competed to see who could seduce a pretty girl faster (or rather, it wasn’t even seduction, but flirting). We called it quests, although it was a bit like a lottery.

Each participant in the quest paid $100 as an entry fee. The winner received the entire amount as a reward. So we were both players and athletes (so to speak).

The tasks were different, but always positive, and insulting girls or making them feel worse than they felt before we approached them was not allowed (this led to disqualification and exclusion from further participation in the quest).

Our motto was fun, joy and positivity! The girls also liked it when guys approached them, flirted with them and played different games.

There is nothing better than self improvement, I remember when I was very fat, my wife would place bet that if I can do some exercise every morning for a year I will win $300 in December, nothing too serious and I took it seriously, I started going to road jog and before I know it I was very fit.

I love challenges but something in me at the time don't think about merely challenging myself to burn some fats, I just don't see any reasons why, no motivation about it, so when I do exercise today I feel like not doing it the next day until my woman challenged me.

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Sometimes we need a reason to just into action, betting in this areas can help improvement for the better.

Does a push-up makes you gain weight?
To me I don't think push up make you gain weight rather it makes you balance your weight or loses a bit of your weight, moreover I think we have a push up thread at the speculation section were a lot of discussion is going on over there so I think this thread is mostly and would be greatly appreciated in that section or you can join the discussion over there to continue everything there.

About the gambling that you and your friend anticipated that is actually cool to do some rough betting that does not directly related to gambling but rather to help boost the physical health were a weight would be gained or could be loose, sometimes it makes one serious about their life or there well-being since it is a thing of challenge or bet.

The ones I have mostly involved myself with is exact time we could drive to the next city after work. This includes circumstances we could face on our way going, such as meeting high traffic, police checking point and bad roads to pass before the specific time is reached. Let say usually it takes about 2hrs driving to the next city but due to some circumstances it may take about 3-5hrs to the next city but most times we may not meet traffic neither do we see active check point on our way going, so whoever gets it correctly would have to pay our expenses as we leave.

After both of you are fat, then you try to bet who is going to go thin first. That's the hardest part and I bet it will be fun.

I had the same bet with my ex-girlfriend back when I was young, I had a big tummy and we had a bet that if I could get my tummy thinner then she would do what I asked her and if ever I won't complete the task then I would pay for all her needs before he goes back to being a librarian in a cruise ship. (It's worth $200+) Sadly I failed to slim my abdomen and I paid for her necessities on her next trip. But she did say there's a bit of a change but I don't see that although I did try.
It's a fun thing to do with friends but both of you must keep it that way because once it gets serious, your friendship could get broken just because of a single bet/dare.

Self improvement betting is very good especially if it is in a positive senerio case, I can remember making a self improvement bet with my elder brother back then in my secondary school days, the deal was that if am going to take the first position in my class that was in my jsss(2), that am going to be having his portion of his meat or fish during meal for good two weeks and if I don't the reverse will be the case, he was actually the one that brought about this challenge reason being that all through my jsss(1) I  took  second position, I took this challenge very seriously and guess what? I ended up coming out the first position and that has really helped me improve in paying more attention to books as a boy, I love fishes and meats and way hahahahahaha.

I am a big fan of this type of bet. I think its truly one of the few ways that gambling can help to better yourself, or anyone that takes this kind of bet. This type of bet relies on your own dedication and puts you in control in a category that is almost purely dominated by chance and odds. Now the odds of you meeting that certain weight are entirely up to what you do day in and day out. This is actually something that I could find useful as I am trying to lose weight and it is extremely challenging. But you know what? I'd place a bet on me because I know I am going to win, at that point its just you vs you!

So far I have never done it but I once had an agreement or you could say bet with myself and that was the amount of spending for whole month for gambling capital, for example I promised not to spend more than $50 in one month for gambling capital and if I exceed $50 then I have to add the same amount to the monthly savings allocation, this sounds silly but it is very useful for my own part while implementing it.
Maybe some people here also have agreements with themselves for certain things in every gambling activity, they will have the idea of ​​being able to take care of themselves even though by implementing different disciplines.

For this category of bet some persons have lost their lives for the negative part. I can recall early this year about a cousin who broke his arm because he wanted to stood up to a challenge from his mate who puts a bet to him that he can't perform a particular stunt with the bicycle he was riding.

I won't bet on that any day. Gambling as a sort of process to double money sounds wacky to me, I see it rather as a kinda process to lose quickly that money which you want to double. I think I'll always chose to lookout to somewhere else to double a project intended money than with gambling.

I often bet with my friends like this (not betting money but about treating food) but not for self-improvement like your story but I like to do it in general games such as football matches and bet on who will win and if I win my friend will treat me to food I think this is quite entertaining and is a healthy bet compared to us having to bet a certain amount of money which I think is a little stressful and sometimes can also cause disputes between friends.

It's funny and it would be a really fun competition lol. Unfortunately I don't see my friends much these days. I mostly spend most of my time with my relatives. They are quite serious people and I doubt they would be interested. In my case I have to talk more about losing weight than gaining weight but it's an interesting idea and I might try it in my life someday. The easiest way to compete is with my wife, we both would have fun making such bets. I once sold an apartment with a friend in a similar way. We agreed that the one who found a buyer first would win.

Actually that is quite of a wholesome history to read, I must say it is a very positive way to bet.
I have never bet on self-improvement myself in a long time, I believe last time I have betted on self-improvement was back when I was in school and I betted with a friend on which one of us could get to improve our grades in mathematics and physics for the incoming tests, I don't recall whether I ended up winning or not, but I definitely managed to get better grades talks to that little bet I had.
Nowadays, I don't think there is someone I interact everyday who would be willing to bet on something like self-improvement with me, I don't smoke, I am not overweight and the only vice I have is drinking a lot of coffee (I am already cutting sugar consumption).

Anyways, this thread has made me thinking whether I could try to do something with this with a family member in January, let us see.. 

With the pressure that emerges from winning a reward or profiting from completing a specific task, gambling on self improvement goals  can easily help most players to hit their health, academic, or nutritional target. However, a default from one party can affect the success of this kind of bet, after first dedication and seriousness. While it'll be beneficial to trust a friend, the gambler may not work harder when in doubt if the bargain would be met after reaching the requirements.

Which could be discouraging. So it's best for people to find other factors that'll energize them to hit such goals, than gambling over it, as a failure in payment can terminate all the zeal built around achieving the self improvement goals.

In my case, I prefer not to make these types of bets. I only make bets on betting sites and with small amounts, because here in my country the people I know have taken bets that involve money very seriously. So even in cases where, for example, we bet a lot on whoever lost weight quickly would win all the money. People would take it so seriously that they would do anything to lose weight and make money, even if it involved methods not recommended by doctors. There have even been cases of people who fought in the streets because one didn't want to pay a bet immediately.

Not for self-improvement but I’ve done some random bets with my friends and most times it doesn’t even involve us betting with money but something that we know would be useful to one of us.

Not only do this type of bet bring rewards they also help you get closer to your friends and even develop the habit that was initiated with this bet, let’s say you bet on who ever doesn’t jog or whoever wakes late would have to pay Xzy amount then you’d start competing for who would wake first and eventually it will become an habit.

i am thinking maybe a hobby we all keep saying we’ll try but never do out of laziness or something else

maybe you want to learn an instrument or learn a language or finish a book it could be helpful if there were some kind of bet prizes in achieving any of these plus if i were to play with friends our competitiveness will be so fired up that i will actually end up wanting to win it and end up being productive

I find this kind of betting very interesting since it is channeled towards self development. In college I and my friends used to bet on who will get the highest score on some tests or the highest GPA. This bet usually motivate us to study hard because we want to win the bet.

In the college hostels, there was also a competition on who will carry the highest weight in the gym. This competition usually spurs students to keep training in the gym in order to lift the highest weight. Yeah, it is indeed a suitable means of enjoying ourselves and also improving ourselves.

Fifty pushups per day will be a good competition and I will be glad to engage in it. I will definitely bet on myself to engage in 100 pushups.

Good point as to whether its classed as gambling...

I once had a friend many years ago who would bet with us on all manner of things
for very small amounts, less than a dollar. I wonder if his innocent childish bets with
friends turn into an addiction later in life? IDK.

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In the OP's scenario though making bets with friends and colleagues to try and
instigate self improvement is a great idea, nothing like some monetary win/loss
as motivation to better yourself and win!

Personally I have not engaged with it in my adult life.

If that's the case it's fine but we never know there will be always the same level of understanding, things started small might escalate to big ones which is why avoiding it completely is better than leaving the room for it to happen.

This just remind me of my college days, where we usually do such things like involving small money over betting silly events and I am not sure it always ended very well which is why I realised later not mixing these can help us a lot.

Well I agree with that that is why I just do that for some other activity together in exchange, like go to have a meal together, at the end when I get out with my friends usually we have fun and we don't matter if today one  of us pay, we know that the other is going to pay.

In any case there is no rush to ask the payback right if you see that they aren't going to make it, then is better not to ask, at the end if you already fulfill the challenge it is still a win for you.


Agree 100% with that last one

Well even if i really like to read, i never did bets on that because it is not something really measurable, i prefer it on physical things. I just mentioned it as an example.

Can that be considered gambling though? Gambling refers to the act of putting something at stake to win something of the same nature on top of it or lose the stake. When it comes to self-improvement, you are not getting back money or something, you make a bet, do something like a challenge, and possibly get something back if you win the challenge. So it's more like a challenge than a gamble, in my opinion.

However, when it comes to making such friendly bets, we surely used to make bets among friends in the past, maybe not always for self-improvement, but mostly for fun. Some of us would even make bets on impressing girls, etc.  For example, I would say that there is this girl, and I'm going to impress her any way I can, and a friend would make a bet with me that I won't be able to do it.

I don't like to involve with my self development challenges, I get that it gives the compulsion that you should do that you are committed to but I don't like to involve money with friends and family because I believe those two are bad combo and it can ruin the relationship over some silly things. On the other I give rewards to myself when I meet the goals like something that I wanted to buy in a while and this is the moment that I buy for myself for accomplishing things.

It seems like a very lighthearted and thoughtful way of improving ourselves but I would like to just warn you. If you find yourself doing this kind of bet with someone with a gambling addiction or an eating disorder, it might be harmful. They might do unhealthy ways to lose/gain weight just to win the bet. But ah it’s all just precaution and it is still a good idea.
Sure. It can also motivate us when we know that there is a reward at the end of it.

Many years ago I quit smoking in this way. We bet a fancy dinner in a steak house. My friend was thinking it was impossible meanwhile I just did it
Yes these are something funny to have, and something useful since I gain year of health and a nice medium rare steak

Having friends with likeminds that work on achieving same goals and aspirations can take you further in life. Gambling itself is a waste of time and money but when it comes to betting on self-improvement this can actually propel you to improve the quality of your life. As responsible people you guys wouldn't bet an outrageous amount of money, it should be done moderately because it goes beyond betting, it's a way of bringing out the best in each other. This can only go wrong when it's done irresponsibly, the goal is to become a better version of yourself.

I really love reading books. That's one of the things I love to do, and a bet with someone to have more books read in a year would be great. Maybe start small, and then you should have reviews on the books that you have read so you know that they have been read.

Update me, OP, if you have managed to start this. Make it a great bet!

What I can remember when I was small was that I can play games with myself. But if it is betting, it is not possible. If you are still the one that will lose and gain the money, that is just not a bet.

I remember the days my class mates will use questions to bet. Who scored highest will take the money. All of them will drop money before they begin to answer the questions on a paper.

I love these types of bets when they are done in moderation. There are many of such stories, but I cannot seem to remember any at the moment. These types of bets only work on physical activities because those are the types that can be measured. Like doing x number of reps and sets on a type of weightlifting exercise. Running some x number of kilometers daily.

These types of don't work on mental activities like reading x number of hours because the person can just stare at the book withour doing any reading.

We should have these types of bet more often with friends to motivate them to change and encourage them to see that they can actually acheive whatever they set their mind to with a little incentive.

I have made bets similar to these than normal bets.
Sometimes I make the bet with myself
They are usually a sort of motivation and I must say it has really helped me in Been disciplined with my plans.
Even during my university days
I made Bets with my friends to complete a course in a month or cover certain number of topics
And since nobody wants to loss The bet
Motivation creeps in.
I would encourage it but it means nothing if there's no penalty imposed when the goal ain't meant.

There are different types of bets and what we focus on discussing on this board is gambling bets, this are bets that are done mainly through gambling establishments so that nobody tells you stories when you win. There are other types of bets like challenging with others that you can achieve something or get a task done, this types of bets or challenges doesn't necessarily require putting money at stake. I'll personally prefer to bet on gambling sites if i want to gamble with my money, I don't like to do money bets and challenges with friends because I've known from experience that money can come between friends, so it's better to avoid betting with friends.

Yeah, sometimes I find myself making this kind of bet with friends but we don't usually bet with a price, although we might say that there will be a price attached but Lastley there will be no price. So, it's not really a kind of serious betting activity for me. I can actually bet on such activity but not for any serious price attached unless otherwise. It's usually fun to do this kind of bet.

Nope, I don't bet in such thing, but I do bet about challenges.

The challenges are vary, it could be try to call and going out with ex, doing something crazy to random people etc.

Sometime bet on that challenge is more like due to social pressure where you're forced to do that for a sake of not getting bullied.

So, I'm not really interested to bet on that, I'm more interested to bet on something that I really want to watch or make me enjoy.

Agreed, there really is nothing to lose in most cases as someone will usually welch on the bet. It's a great feel of self accomplishment if you achieve the goal, but most people fail with 0 consequences.

Betting money assures that consequences(money) is won or lost.

I also experienced that, and what I experienced was that I challenged my friend to eat only vegetables and fruits for a month. And he told me that I couldn't do that and that it would be difficult for me. Then I said that I could do it and he told me that we would make a bet and what we bet was that whoever lost would give the winner $20.

Now, whatever bet we agreed on was just sports for us, and I won our bet, although it was very difficult for me because I was used to my body's routine of always eating rice, but I endured it and my weight also decreased somehow.

I don't have the same story as you because all of my friends have a shape body

I don't know if other friends use this as self-improvement challenge and those who win will takes the money. That is unique for people who often gambling because they use something different to playing gambling. It is show to us that human creative to use something to playing gambling.

If that is about self-improvement challenge, I don't need to mix it with gambling. But different people will have different purpose to use gambling as a challenge

I have bet in the past with friends about to quit smoking, ls an efective way to quit that vice until the bet ends.

Personally I like to place random bets in life, some days ago I bet with a coworker that I could finish a complex Jon in 1 Day, and I did it, so, that kind of bets are fun to me.

Well maybe you aren't seen the full picture, In my point of view it is a win-win scenario even if you partner/friend doesn't fulfill the agreement at least you still reach your goal ( lose weight, do some daily exercise, read some books, IDK you name it!), Because the only way to really lose in this scenario is when you fail to your self in achieving your own goals.

Another thing is that you always can have some extra friend as escrow to ensure the fulfill of the bets/aggrement

I do not like this kind of bet. A bet that no money nor anything is involved. I mean nothing is involved because one of you can decide not to fulfill the betting promise. Example is if your friend did not lose more weight and still decide not to pay for the meal? This can happen. I do not bet with people. I prefer to go to casino or bookie to bet instead.

This is such a brilliant, interesting and exciting idea which should be considered even those who are gradually getting addicted gambling can use this to help their addiction, one of the ways would be that they are going to probably bet on their selves not to gamble over a certain period of time and if they succeed in doing it they go for another round.

The fear of not been the one to pay for the agreed fine of a defaulter would build a consciousness that may gradually become part of the persons routine and they see that with time they are gradually quitting gambling already and their addiction is been taken care of without having to really get the help of a professional who may charge them heavily.

Recently i and my brother made an agreement to roll over every daily win until we reach a certain target. The reason is because we have something in mind, we want to get so that was one way we can meet the money target.

Each individual has one or two projects in mind, while some set goals to reach them. Gambling can be a kind of process by which one can double an amount to complete his project

Have you ever had a friend or co-worker who enjoys making friendly bets to Self improve?

For instance, you could bet on losing X amount of weight this month?

Last year, I made a similar bet to gain some weight (I'm very thin). So in my case my friend was also thin so we make a Bet to reach some Amount of weight before the end of the month. The bet wasn't a big deal it was only to buy a full meal for the other person just in case of not meet the expected weight. For example If my friend don't reach the expected weight and I reach it, then my friend should pay my meal. I that occasion we both reach the the expected weight and none of us need to pay the other person meal.

Do you have some similar story?, please share it, i would like to read it.

This may not be a typical sports or casino topic, but I think self-improvement deserves some attention.

Another question: What do you think would be a fun and effective self-improvement challenge we could all try?

For example, how about a challenge to do 50 push-ups a day for a month? Would you bet on yourself to complete it?