If you want to reach a certain level, setting an Activity Goal can help you. You change it on the main members page, on the same form you change your password or email address. Simply select the level you wish to reach.
After setting a goal you'll see either a red negative number, or a green positive number on the surfbar. The red means you need to surf that many pages to reach the goal, the green means you've passed the goal and have gone above and beyond!
The goal works by taking the average page views it takes to reach that level, and divides it by 14 days. If you surf until the goal is green every day, you should be at that level in 14 days.
Note: Higher levels are more competitive and can be harder to achieve. You may need to surf more than the indicator says to reach or stay in that level.