How to Choose Stakes for a Challenge (With Examples)

What makes a good stake

A stake works when it passes four tests:

1. It stings. If you’d shrug it off, it won’t get you out of bed on day 23.
2. It’s enforceable. Your partner can see whether it happened.
3. It’s agreed in advance. Set it before day one, not after a miss.
4. It’s proportionate. It should hurt a little, not damage your finances, health or relationships.

20 stake ideas

Fun

• Buy the other person dinner
• Wear the other person’s choice of outfit for a day
• Post a photo the other person picks
• Sing at karaoke
• Cook the other person’s favorite meal

Favors

• Do the dishes for a month
• Wash the other person’s car
• Take their least favorite chore for two weeks
• Help them move, paint or clean
• Plan and pay for the next day out

Money

• Pay the other person a set amount
• Fund a shared treat for the winner only
• Put money in a jar that goes to the winner at the end

Causes

• Donate to a charity the other person picks
• Donate to an organization you dislike (an “anti-charity”)
• Volunteer for a day

Serious

• Get a small tattoo the other person picks
• Shave your head
• Cancel a trip or purchase you were looking forward to
• Delete a favorite app for a month

Stakes to avoid

• Anything dangerous, illegal or harmful to your health
• Stakes that humiliate someone rather than make them laugh
• Amounts of money that would cause real hardship
• Stakes that involve people who didn’t agree to them

Match the stake to the challenge

A long, hard challenge like 75 Hard deserves a bigger stake than a short one. For a month like Dry 30, something fun and social usually works. For a long, all-or-nothing sprint, pick something you’d really hate.

In GLIN, the stake is set when you start: one question, “What happens if you quit?” If you try to end the challenge early, GLIN shows you your answer before you confirm.

Frequently asked questions

Why do stakes work?

People tend to work harder to avoid a loss than to get an equal gain, which behavioral economists call loss aversion. A stake turns quitting from a private choice into a real cost.

Should stakes be money?

They can be, but they don’t have to be. Favors, small embarrassments and donations to a cause you dislike often work just as well and keep things friendly.

What is an anti-charity stake?

You agree that if you quit, you donate to an organization you strongly oppose. The idea was popularized by the commitment-contract site stickK.

How does GLIN handle stakes?

When you start a challenge, GLIN asks each of you "What happens if you quit?" and saves your answer. If you try to end the challenge early, GLIN shows you your stake first. It never holds your money.