Hi, I’m Oliver, the creator of Togething.
For the current two-week Togething pilot experiment, scroll further down. ↓
Well, where should I start?
Probably with the things a reader may actually want to know first: who is Oliver, what does he do, and what are his intentions? Past, present, and future.
So let me mention a few points before connecting the dots.
I’m a German communications engineer and software project manager. In parallel, I’ve always been deeply interested in human psychology, inner work, and the question that never really left me alone: “then what’s behind it?”
I’m grateful for having had a life with many ups and downs, including some extreme and painful parts, because when they were sublimated, they gave me something valuable. Gold, actually.
And I’ve always had this strong tendency to help others, even when I myself needed help. There was a time when I thought my motive for helping others was maybe just a way of indirectly helping myself, and therefore not fully genuine. Later I understood that this is actually how it works: you help yourself through helping others, and you help others through working on yourself.
Besides that, unsurprisingly, I’ve had executive function challenges myself. Difficulty doing things. Getting stuck. Falling into the negative loop of low perceived self-efficacy, lower performance, and then even lower belief in myself.
The idea of Togething was born out of all that.
Togething is a model that gives the mind factual evidence that “you are capable,” through systematic celebration of small wins and positive social reinforcement.
From the day you start, you begin [literally] writing a new life story, based on real evidence of progress instead of pressure, fantasy, or empty affirmation.
Almost like how algorithmic social media trains the mind to keep scrolling and seek attention, but here, reinforcement is used in the productive direction: to strengthen people’s belief in their ability to act, make progress, and improve their lives.
The model is simple: you create a storyline around something that matters to you, define small steps, celebrate small daily wins, and receive support from others. Other people can encourage you, watch your progress, join you as accountability partners, or support you as coaches.
We also use structured self-evaluation to understand how the model affects areas such as wellbeing, clarity, focus, motivation, progress, self-belief, support, belonging, meaning, and hope.
In this platform model, there are no ads and no personal information collection beyond what is needed for basic sign-up and login, and those details are not used for any commercial purpose. Since the revenue model is not based on advertising, we are not interested in users’ personal data. We even encourage anonymity.
The platform is designed to earn from commissions on optional 1:1 coaching, which also helps coaches earn a living by actually supporting people. Currently, the model is not profitable, but hopefully, with public support, we’ll have a sustainable public benefit platform that meets the real needs of people, not advertisers and investors.
Developing Togething has been a long journey, technically, psychologically, and spiritually.
Among all the challenges, there was also this strange weight of assuming that I should somehow be a role model as the creator of a platform that helps people with executive function and progress.
It was not the right assumption, but maybe it was a fortunate one. It pushed me to become the best plausible version of myself.
There are many stories from this journey that I will share publicly at the right time.
But the short version is this: if there wasn’t a big mission behind it, I probably would not have survived the grind of this journey.
I believe the world is in a critical situation, and we urgently need better ways to connect to ourselves and one another.
That is the mission of Togething.
Current pilot experiment
I’m currently looking for 20 volunteers for a limited two-week pilot experiment before a larger academic study being developed in academic collaboration with a researcher at Tilburg University.
The experiment is about the Togething method for changing self-image and personal narrative through celebrating small wins, giving and receiving positive social reinforcement, and seeing whether this can help people feel more capable, more motivated, less stuck, and better in their daily life without relying on more pressure or willpower.
For 2 weeks, you spend about 3 to 5 minutes per day celebrating one or two small wins, no matter how small, and supporting others who do the same.
Based on what fits you, the pilot can include community support, an accountability partner, text support, or 1:1 coaching with me personally.
You’ll also complete a short self-evaluation at the beginning, after week 1, and after week 2, so we can look at changes in areas such as energy, mood, clarity, motivation, progress, self-belief, feeling supported, hope, and meaning.
This pilot experiment is for people who:
- can communicate in English
- are willing to stay with it for the full 2 weeks
- are relatively tech-savvy enough to use a new app
- have an area of life they genuinely want to improve
- are supportive and willing to encourage others in a simple, respectful way
Participation is free.
How to join
To join, please send me a message on Togething or on my Facebook page with the words “pilot experiment.”
Please don’t start using Togething for the experiment before communicating with me, because I need to guide you through the right flow.
When you click the button below, it will take you to install the app, sign up, go through a quick onboarding, and then redirect you to my profile on Togething.
You’ll also receive a welcome message from me.
So, just follow the white rabbit and we’ll talk in Togething.
