Here’s this week’s 200 word idea thanks Mauricio Estrella’s great post on Medium..
A few months after a bad divorce, depressed designer Mauricio found himself frustrated by his Microsoft Exchange server which required him to change his password every 30 days. He then stumbled on a simple idea – he would use these passwords as cues to change his life.
So, his first password became – Forgive@h3r. One month later, it became Quit@smoking4ever. The daily act of typing his password in resulted in him quitting smoking. Next month, it was Save4trip@thailand. 3 months later, he was in Thailand.
A couple of small mis-steps aside, he was soon on a roll – his passwords went from Sleep@before12, Facetime2mom@sunday to Ask@her4date, MovE@togeth3r and Save4@ring. In 2 years, he turned his life around, and happily announced his “Save4@ring” password worked too. She said yes.
Small cues -> Big changes. Thanks for sharing the inspiration, Mauricio.
PS: On a related note, while you are thinking about passwords, please do consider two factor authentication. More here.
“She said yes” – Mauricio Estrella
‘I still await very anxiously each month so I can change my password into a phrase that motivates me to focus on something that I need to get done.’ | Mauricio Estrella
A Learning a Day 