Get Motivated by Understanding the Importance of Reward
What is reward? Well, the dictionary defines it as “something given or received in recompense for worthy behavior” Hmm. In many ways that definition makes logical sense. As a motivational speaker I would define reward a little differently. Reward is the payoff, the prize in the gameshow, the ” thumbs up” the grand finale in some ways. It let’s you know “good job - you did it!” When you see it is working you get more motivated and even more fired up.
One of the best ways to define reward is with an example. My Dad would be one. He is a successful person and has always been a guy with an amazing ablity to work hard. A child of the depression, he grew up in a small town in the south, very poor and didnt have much. Because he was determined and was willing to do the hard work- he actually started climbing the ladder. He advanced from manual laborer, to factory worker, to highly paid company executive. At a defining moment in his career , he went to the local dealership and bought a shiny new Cadillac. As a kid I didn’t understand why. Why would he go out and buy a big monster gas guzzling car? Just filling it up cost a fortune. So I asked him that one day when we were driving. His mark of success or reward was that car. He had made a vow to himself, that if he ever “made it” he would reward himself by getting a Cadillac. Now the reward had been granted. The dream had arrived.
The story illustrates a key point. It is very important to reward yourself for achieving your goals. It is important to reward your self for the following reasons: 1) You will feel like you are making progress. 2) To have a tangible reminder of why you are working so hard. 3) To finalize the achievement of a specific goal. 4) To help measure your progress and celebrate it. 5) Because it feels great and motivates you even further.
I don’t know if you have ever heard the story about Tabitha, Steven King’s wife. It is a great story that is about reward. For years Steven King tried to make a living as a writer. They as a couple were “poor as church mice” as the old saying goes. At some point he finally made it and signed a very high dollar book deal. When he came home and announced the news, she said “so does that mean I can buy a blow dryer now?” They were so poor she had not been able to afford one at all. Now the blow dryer she had been coveting was in her future. Tabitha and Steven reported when she bought the blow dryer, it meant more to her than anything.
Want to massively increase your level of motivation? Today? Now? Set short and long term goals and then tie big rewards to their acheivement.
Shawn Doyle is an award winning Motivational Speaker and author of 10 books. For a free copy of Shawn’s amazing book The 10 Foundations of Motivation, go to http://sldoyle.com.
Tags: goal setting, Motivation, positive thinking, rewards, self improvement