Based on the large number of views on a post last week where I wrote about the competition with my girlfriend that decides who pays for dinner on our weekly Monday Night Football date, I decided it was only right to give you an update on the results from week one.
As a quick reminder, the Thousandaire Girlfriend (Tag) and I will keep track of how many days we work out from Monday through Sunday. The person who works out least has to pay for dinner when we go to a restaurant for our Monday night date night.
Well, I’m proud to say IT’S A TIE!
“They” say a tie is like kissing your sister. I say a tie is like establishing myself as a force to be reckoned with and saving myself half the price of dinner for two at a sit-down restaurant.
I actually started a draft of this post entitled “Using Coupons To Pay For Losing a Bet”, but I found out yesterday that we both worked out three times this week, which means we split the cost of dinner!
I was almost certain I would lose because as of Thursday, I hadn’t even been to the gym once. I had been busy all week and just didn’t have time, but it occurred to me on Friday that if I didn’t show up with a respectable number on Monday, Tag would think I’m not taking it seriously and I would have ruined the whole competition. It’s no fun to play a game when you’re the only one playing, so I had to kick my own butt in gear and start working out.
I worked out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and I can promise you that I’m feeling it today. My body is hurting, but it actually feels good to know that I made it to the gym and I didn’t lose the first week of the bet.
Even better than all that stuff, I realized the competition really is working. There’s no way I would have pumped iron and worked on my chiseled abs over the last three days if it weren’t for our little deal.
We decided to go to Chili’s for our date night because they donated all their profits to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. We had a great night, watched a little football, and have plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Total cost per person: $16.38 (including over 20% tip). That’s money well spent if you ask me.
So, my crazy idea is actually working. I’ve been talking about using competition for motivation for over a week now. Have you taken my advice and started a competition of your own to get you moving towards a goal?
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
Kevin,
I have wanted to chime in many times just so you would know I was reading, but one comment in this blog begged for a response from one who knows. Although I don’t have much room to talk, I will say thta I have never exactly seen you with chisled abs. And please…don’t try to look like that horrific picture you have here!
lol (from me that means lots of love),
Mom
Gee thanks mom. The world wide web was convinced I had chiseled abs until you told them otherwise!