Come Jan. 2, gyms will be filled with newbs looking to shed holiday pounds, countless smokers will slap on the patch and would-be self-improvers of all stripes will blithely commit to positive change. But making a resolution is far easier than keeping it, which is why Weight Watchers, the patch and all manner of apps and devices designed to keep you on track exist.

The Behavioral Technology Group aims to bring something different to the already crowded table. Helmed by former Stanford student Maneesh Sethi, the startup began in Boston in 2013 with seed funding from local hardware incubator Bolt and, this fall, began crowdfunding for its flagship gadget: Pavlok, a wristband that will shock wearers if they fail to meet their goals. “We focus on breaking bad habits and giving people the necessary tools to do so,” says Chris Schelzi, director of strategy and marketing. “We are the first company to use aversion therapy in a consumer product for this purpose.” Needless to say, the concept hit a nerve, and the $50,000 Indiegogo campaign ultimately drew $254,133 in funding.

The wristbands are available for pre-order for May delivery, but prototypes for Indiegogo supporters start shipping in January. I got my hands on one to give it a try. Strapping on much like a Fitbit, the Pavlok is simple, stylishly utilitarian and similarly easy to use. I settled on a fairly straightforward vice to vanquish: biting my nails. For three straight days, whenever I found my fingertips creeping toward my mouth, I’d gingerly press the yellow lighting bolt, delivering a not-so-gentle jolt of electricity straight to my wrist. It wasn’t pleasant. That was the point. After only a few days I already found myself anticipating that nasty little shock (users can adjust the voltage level to suit their own tolerance) and associating guilty nibbling with an unwelcome “slap” on the wrist.

But keeping yourself accountable can be tough. So users will be able to partner with other Pavlok wearers through an iPhone app, which offers a program of incentives and punishments. “It’s a lot easier to break a promise we make to ourselves than it is to break a commitment we made to someone else,” Schelzi explains. “When there is another person that won’t put up with your excuses, your commitments become much more meaningful.” For instance, if you’re trying to get in shape, you might enter a weekly goal of running 10 miles into the app, which will send alerts to your phone and physical reminders, in the form of vibrations, to your wristband. If you ignore them and fail to meet your goal, your Pavlok partner will get a heads up—and can zap you remotely. But don’t worry: They won’t be able to shock you indiscriminately. “We are still building out that functionality, but we certainly aren’t going to let people ‘zap’ you unnecessarily,” Schelzi says, adding, “unless that is something you’re into…”