Daniel Nazareth's Blog

Last year, 65 people participated in the ‘Capital Gainz’ 30 Day Wellness Challenge to support the Movember Foundation. We tracked activities like yoga, walking, reading, netflix sessions, and even personal financial models. This year, I’d love you to join us on our way to 100 participants! No moustache necessary and anyone is welcome to join.

So, what is ‘Capital Gainz’?

Eight years ago, I grew a moustache to support the Movember Foundation. Over the years, as my moustache grew, so did the campaign, and the ‘Captial Gainz’ was born: a team of motivated individuals that embark on a challenge to practice wellness, initiate conversations around mental health, and raise money for the Movember foundation.

Challenge:

• “Everyday in November, I commit to at least 20 minutes of [insert activity] for my mental health. Each day I miss, I will contribute [insert dollar amount] to the Capital Gainz Movember team page. Optional: I will document my progress in the team’s accountability tracker and comment on my teammates progress.”
• Side quest – Encourage your friends, family and colleagues to sign up!

A wise person once said, “we are what we repeatedly do”. Although there are many factors outside my control that determine the quality of my life, I’ve focused on habit formation and destruction to steer me towards better health, wealth, and relationships. 

Capital Gainz is the product of years of trial and error breaking bad habits and building good ones. The reasons why I think this works is because:

1. Social Commitment – Acknowledgement and encouragement drive our behaviours. Each member is an accountability partner that leads to action and fruitful relationships 
2. Tracking – Grounded in reality, we paint a clear picture of whether we’ve met our goals on a daily basis. Each entry is a point of feedback and acts as a compass, navigating us back on track towards wellness
3. Dollar Pledge – Negative punishment (with a positive twist through donation) encourages us to take the commitment seriously, but still remain compassionate with ourselves when we miss a day

Last Movember, I felt a rush of adrenaline everytime I’d open the tracking sheet and see people I knew tracking their progress. But something interesting happened when strangers started commenting on each other’s progress within the sheet: 

Capital Gainz became a culture.

As James Clear says, one of the best ways to build good habits and break bad ones is by joining a culture where our desired behaviour is the normal behaviour. The normal behaviour for the Capital Gainz is making our wellness a priority and encouraging those around us to do the same. 

Your habitat shapes your habits.

Are you in? 

Sign up:

• Link to the Google Sheet: Capital Gainz Tracking Sheet – Google Sheets
• Movember Team Page: Movember – Team

Motivation and ethos of the Capital Gainz:

• Inspiring Humanity’s Hidden Potential | TEDxPerth | Peter Sharp – YouTube

With care,

Daniel Nazareth