Why you need to reward yourself
One of the keys to achieving your goals – whether fitness, finance or family oriented – is to stay motivated. When you’re in the middle of the hard slog you can lose sight of the greater goal. Rewarding yourself along the way is a great way to keep your eyes on the prize. But you need to make sure you’re choosing the right rewards. So how do you decide?
First, it’s important to understand that there are two types of rewards – those you give yourself for reaching your goal and smaller rewards you give yourself along the way. The size or scope of the reward needs to match what you’ve achieved. If you treat yourself with something big – like a holiday – when you complete the first stage of your goal, it can actually lessen your chances of reaching the end. What reason do you have to keep going?
You should also remember that rewards don’t need to be financial. There’s no point working hard to pay off your credit card and then celebrating with a blow out at David Jones. You need to choose something that has significance for you and encourages you to keep meeting your goals. The essential ingredient in choosing these rewards is that they should make you feel great – physically, emotionally or spiritually.
Start small. If you are on a fitness kick and complete all your workouts for the week you could reward yourself by downloading the next episode of your favourite podcast or a new album to listen to while you exercise. If you’re addicted to social media and have trouble getting out of bed for that early morning run, hold off on checking Facebook or Twitter until you get back. It’s a small reward but something you can genuinely look forward to when you walk back in the door.
You can also try and sync your rewards with the goals themselves. Keeping with the fitness goals, how about a great new pair of sneakers or some workout gear when you reach a milestone? Or promise to treat yourself to a massage every week to soothe those aching muscles?
Also don’t be afraid to take some ‘me time’ out for your reward. Sometimes there’s nothing you need more once you’ve met your responsibilities than to switch off – from everyone and everything – and take stock of what you’ve achieved.
The final point to consider is that there doesn’t need to be a flipside to this. If you fail to meet your goal or have a setback, there’s no need to punish yourself. Obviously you shouldn’t take the reward, but numerous studies show that self-flagellation is no good to anyone.
Related links:
Can positive thinking improve your mental health?
5 expert-approved ways to stress less
4 bad habits that will destroy your relationship