What’s Your Password?

In a recent post by Josh Bernoff, he shares a brilliant idea that really got me thinking. In the article, A Motivational Trick: Your Password, he writes “If your company is like mine, you need to change your password every three months or so. Next time, don’t just create something easy to remember that fits the IT department’s arcane requirements. Think of something that will motivate you.”

Brilliant!

I was so taken by this because it’s far more fun to have a password like “2DayIsMyDay” or “DontGiveUp” than the passwords I’ve been conjuring up in the past. Talk about a creative black hole. Wow. But you’ve been there, I’m sure.

You start with a company and they set up your computer with a temporary password. And it’s something like JSmith*42 (because the company asks you to have a capital letter, a special character AND a number in the password). So, you get busy with the job and you forget to change your password. And before long, your fingers have already memorized the sequence: (shift)J-s-m-i-t-h (shift)*…so you just go with it.

Then you start getting the message, “Your password will expire in 10 days. Would you like to change it now?” And you ignore, until finally “Your password will expire in 9 days…”–so you click YES to change it. And here’s where it all goes wrong. Since your fingers are used to flying across the J’s and the s’s …you update your password to this: Jsmith*43. That way, it will be easy to remember. And the next one would be 44 and so on. Makes perfect sense. Right?

But oh so B-O-R-I-N-G!

So, when I read Josh’s post this morning, I had one of those “aha” moments. Or maybe it was a “duh-uh” moment. (They tend to be interchangeable in my experience.) Create a password that reminds you of your goals–one that motivates you. If you have a goal to save more money, set your password to Save$2day. If you need a reminder that you are doing amazing things with your new business venture, IRockThis! might keep you moving in the right direction.

So, I’m vowing that from here forward, my passwords will be inspirational. And every morning when I fire up the laptop, I will be reminded to follow my goals.

So, I’m curious. What motivational techniques do you use to keep yourself in tune with your goals? What would your password be? I’d love to know. Share with me in the comments below.

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