I’m making a new educational commitment.

I’m going to be taking Physics 101 from Udacity, an open education site with great courses in technology/science.

I’ve always been a fan of open education websites such as Saylor and Coursera.

The only problem? To this day, I’ve never completed a single course from start to finish.

I see one course, and think to myself: “Wow! I really want to take that! I’m gonna do it.”

*1 hour later*

“Wow, this course is hard! I’m gonna take a break for a while, and see what other open courses are available. WOW! There are hundreds!”

Cycle repeats continuously, and I’m distracted by all the amazing courses that are out there.

I’ve had enough of this.

I’m going to keep doing what works for achieving success in my life. As Leo Babuata told Maneesh Sethi, “If it worked, why stop doing it?”

What works for me? Public accountability on my blog. It has worked for my Quick Thought videos, and it has worked for my Great Books Quest.

I highly suspect that it will work for a more short term commitment like a 3 month online Physics class.

The Outline

I started this course on November 27, and I’m going to finish it by February 27, 2013. 3 month commitment.

I spread out each of the 7 units into deadlines. They are not required; they are a guide to keep me on track.

My commitment is to finish the course, rain or shine, on February 27. No ifs, ands, or buts. If I haven’t finished ALL 7 UNITS AND THE FINAL EXAM by this date, I will have failed you.

Here’s my semester outline:

Unit 1:
Finish by Sunday, December 9th

Unit 2:
Finish by Friday, December 21

Unit 3:
Finish by Wednesday, January 1

Unit 4:
Finish by Saturday, January 12

Unit 5:
Finish by Thursday, January 24

Unit 6:
Finish by Tuesday, February 5

Unit 7:
Finish by Sunday, February 17

Finish Course by February 27 (10 days of leeway)

Why Physics?

It is never a good thing to get too comfortable in a field. The world is expanding, and your knowledge must expand with it.

At the moment, I am not very bright when it comes to the sciences. I couldn’t bear high school chemistry, and I’ve never taken a physics course in my life.

This is how I’m going to remedy my situation.

Allow me to share a quote from the Biography “Steve Jobs” that inspired me to take this plunge:

Those people who can stand at the intersection of the humanities and science, the liberal arts and technology, that intersection, are the people who can change the world.

I encourage you to check out the sciences more seriously, if you haven’t already. It will feel uncomfortable. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

Look out for a special blog post on February 27th with the verdict.

Ideas to Help You Achieve Your Goals with Accountability

I make no secret of the fact that accountability and deadlines have been my ticket to success in life thus far.

It just flat out works for me.

If you want to achieve some goal in life, just set a deadline, and sign up for Stickk.com. Or post it on your blog. Or tell a good friend that you’ll give them $100 if you don’t have the project completed by such and such date. Or perhaps that you will post an embarrassing and sexual Facebook status if you don’t achieve the goal by the deadline.

Figure out your biggest pain, and then use it to build accountability toward your goals.

If the punishment for not following through antagonizes your core values, you will not procrastinate.

For me, the worst pain is not living up to my word. That is such an excruciating pain that I will do whatever it takes to succeed.

Who said the fear of pain wasn’t a good thing?