A core idea behind Amplenote Social is that people can improve their follow-through if they have a community that celebrates their progress each step of the way. In this section, we'll describe how to join a group, and how to mark progress in groups you've joined.
linkJoin an Accountability Goal Group
You can join Accountability Goal Groups up to the limit per subscription level. When you join a group, you'll be given the option to place a wager on the likelihood you'll follow through on your goal:
When clicking through to an Accountability Group, you can join it, optionally with a coin bet [Beta version shown]
If you believe in your adherence to the goal, you can optionally put a 10-100 coin bet on your followthrough. If you join the group with a coin bet, those coins will be temporarily deducted from the coin balance shown, as shown on your profile.
If you successfully remember to mark the goal as complete as often as the goal calls for (each goal has its "recurrence interval" shown among its details), you will earn a 20% return on your coins bet for every month you remain in the goal. But, if you forget to mark the goal complete within the goal's recurrence interval (plus a grace period), your coins will be lost. This is why we require each user to check a box with bold text that acknowledges you will not consume support resources if you fail to remember to follow through on marking your goal.
If you place goal bets, expect to lose them sometimes. That's why they're called "bets." But remember, there are lots of ways to earn more coins, and the whole "coin" system is just a contrived method to help bend our psychology in a desirable way -- there is effectively zero material value to this imaginary currency.
linkDormancy Phase after sign up
After signing up for a goal, and after each instance (aka "cycle") of the goal that you complete, there is a "dormancy phase" where the "Goal Complete" button is unavailable. The dormancy phase prevents bad actors from signing up for a goal, immediately marking it "complete," and then departing to move on to the next goal.
To the extent that completing a goal involves substantive effort, the "dormancy phase" accords with the natural rhythm of "prepare for goal, complete goal, recover." If the goal requires willpower (as all good ones do), it should take some days to prepare for and perform the completion of each goal cycle.
linkMark progress in an Accountability Goal Group
When a goal creator is configuring the options for their goal, their most important (required) option is called "Recurrence interval," it controls the all-important question:
"How often do the goal participants need to check in?"
The value is provided in days -- most goals will recur after 5, 7, 15, or 30 days. The limit is 60.
Whatever the recurrence interval that your group has, you will want to set up a recurring reminder on your calendar so that you remember to return to the goal's topic page (the URL you signed up for the goal from) and record that you completed an instance of the goal with the frequency that the goal calls for. If you fail to record progress on the goal by the due date + grace period, you will be removed from the Accountability Goal Group.
When recording a goal completion, we encourage the goal member to leave notes to substantiate their progress and to offer advice to others who are striving to complete this goal.
linkCreate an Accountability Goal Group
There are several options available if you choose to create your own goal. Goal creation is available to any Amplenote Subscriber (Pro or above).
Editing an Accountability Group Goal. Actual options presented can vary.
For starters, your goal will need a name and description. For the description, you can paste a public note token if you want to get access to the full formatting within Amplenote, otherwise you can enter your goal description using markdown in the provided text area.
linkGoal options
A brief description of the options for a goal:
Recurrence interval. Defines the frequency that goal members have to return to the goal to show their progress. Usually somewhere around 3-30 days. This value indirectly controls the time after which a non-participating group member will be removed, and the time after signup until the first goal can be marked.
Goal end date. By default, goals end after 6 months, but you can set up your goal to last for up to a year. We require that a goal has an end date because people consistently overestimate their confidence that their interests will be the same in the future as they are now.
Recurring meeting cadence. The most effective Accountability Groups are ones where the members have a close connection with one another. By setting up face-to-face meetings over a video conference meeting, you can commiserate with others, sharing ideas about the struggles and insights from pursuing a goal.
Meeting invite URL. If you agree to recurring progress meetings, an event link is required so that members know where to go to join your meetings. When you create a recurring event on Google Calendar, they provide a "Copy" icon that lets you grab the URL for the meeting. Recurring meetings in Google Calendar keep the same URL from week-to-week, so you can copy the meeting URL from any of the individual events.
Max goal members. If you want to limit the number of goal collaborators, you can set a limit to the number of active members.