What Do You Lose If This Fails? — A New ‘Stakes’ Field

Before Fecit is a tool for writing down tasks, it wants to be a tool that helps you think. That’s why the intention section of a task or project has an unusual number of named writing spaces. Current state (target), hope, obstacle — and now one more: Stakes.

How is it different from Obstacle?

You might ask why we’d add another field when Obstacle already exists. Both deal with “failure,” but they look at it from opposite directions.

• Obstacle — “What blocks your progress?” A blocker in the process. So you counter it with an if-then response rule.
• Stakes — “What do you lose if it fails? Can you bear that loss? Is it still worth doing?” Consequence and cost.

Obstacle asks “how do I avoid failing” (sharpen the plan); Stakes asks “is this worth doing at all” (question the commitment itself). Looking at the same failure, one refines the execution, the other questions whether to start.

Why we needed a field that helps you decide

The current + hope + obstacle structure is, in fact, the same as mental contrasting (WOOP) from psychology: see where you are, picture what you want, and confront the obstacle in between. But the theory has one more step — after contrasting, you decide whether to commit or to let go.

Fecit helped you contrast, but it didn’t help you with that decision. There was nowhere to write it down. Stakes is that missing field. Once the downside is on paper, “so, am I really doing this?” stops circling in your head and becomes something you can look at.

Choosing an icon

A small story. We spent a while picking the label icon.

We started with an exclamation mark. But it looked too much like the warning triangle on the Obstacle field, and without an outline it felt flat. So we switched to a dollar sign ($) — too upbeat for something called “Stakes.” It felt like making money, not risking it.

We settled on a scale (balance): the tool you use to weigh whether something is worth bearing. It fit the meaning best.

We don’t force it

Like every other field, Stakes starts empty. It only shows up for those who expand the intention section. If you want to keep things light, you can skip it. When you want to think it through, it’s there. Minimal at first, deep when you want — that’s the direction Fecit consistently tries to hold.