Woman Invented Simple Game to Motivate Her to Go to the Gym

• Lily Cheng struggled to motivate herself during weekends and college breaks.
• Implementing a point system into her daily life helped her create new, healthier habits.
• She earned points by doing tasks she didn’t want to do, which she could “spend” on fun activities.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lily Cheng, 21, a game design student and YouTuber who lives in New York. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

For the past year, I’ve been using a point system to motivate myself to get things done. It’s helped me stick to healthy habits and allow myself to rest without guilt.

I have a busy schedule and there’s a lot I want to fit in. I’m a college student who interns and works a part-time job. I also make fan art that I sell at conventions, I’m designing an indie video game, and I make lifestyle content on YouTube and Instagram.

My routine varies a lot, and I find that when I have the structure of a work shift or class, I’m productive. But on school breaks and at weekends, I find it difficult to get myself to do anything.

During winter break in 2023, I was feeling really unmotivated. It was hard for me to get even the most simple things done, like cooking or getting out of bed. I was stuck in a negative cycle where I never properly relaxed or treated myself to nice things because I felt guilty about being unproductive, which meant I stayed unmotivated.

I could get myself to do things if it led to a reward

One day, as I was scrolling through social media, I came across a video that was titled something like: “How to make your life like a video game.” I didn’t even watch it, but it sparked an idea: I could motivate myself to do the simple things I was struggling with, like getting out of bed, if it meant that in the future, I might reward myself with something.

I designed and implemented a system for my daily life where I get points for doing things I don’t want to do. I then get to use those points to do things I enjoy that cost money. For example, at the start when I was really unmotivated, I’d give myself 50 points for taking a shower and cleaning my room. I’d then “spend” those points on going to a café, which might cost 30 points, or thrifting, which might cost 100.

My recording system is just updating a number on a document. It’s simple, so it’s easy to maintain.

The system gave me the motivation to create new habits

The point system has helped me create and stick to healthy habits too.

It gave me the motivation to change my lifestyle, which led to new habits over time. After a while, I no longer needed the points as motivation to cook instead of eating out, or wake up early.

Points are based on how motivated I feel to do something in the moment. If I’m feeling particularly in the mood to clean my apartment one day, I won’t get any points for doing it. But if I’ve been lying in bed all day on my phone, I might give myself 30 points for getting up and having a shower.

One habit I really wanted to build was going to the gym regularly. There was a period in my life when I went twice a day, but I had pretty much stopped going by January 2023. I was struggling to get back into it because I didn’t have as much time or energy to spend on hitting my muscle-building and weight goals, and it made me feel discouraged.

The point system rewarded me for simply showing up to the gym, which not only helped me rebuild the habit, but also to develop a healthier mindset around exercise. It helped me see that going to do something active is worthwhile regardless of the result.

Tracking what I do in a day has helped me achieve a better work-life balance

Using the point system has helped me achieve a better work-life balance. Tracking the sometimes-mundane tasks I do made me realize that I tend to do more than I think I do.

In the past, I often unknowingly overworked but couldn’t fully enjoy moments of rest or reward like eating out with friends or going shopping. I didn’t feel like I had earned them.

Now that I track my work more closely, I feel guilt-free about spending money or time on non-work-related activities because I know it helps me stay motivated to get my work done.