Get Motivated by Understanding the Importance of Reward
Its real important to reward yourself. What is the definition of reward anyway? The dictionary defines reward as, "something given or received in recompense for worthy behavior"- a definition that makes sense. I have a slightly different definition: giving yourself a gift for all the blood sweat and toil you have put into a task, so that you have a sign that all the hard work and effort is actually finally paying off. You will want to work harder because you will be more motivated.
Let me give you an example. My father, Jack is a successful man and has always been a person with an incredible work ethic. He grew up poor in a small town in the south and through grit and hard work; he literally pulled himself up from manual laborer, to factory worker, to highly paid sales executive. When he reached a certain point in his career, he went out and bought a brand new Cadillac. I was a kid at the time and I didn't understand why he had bought the car, in my view at the time, "an expensive, gas guzzling" car. I asked him one day when we were driving, "Dad, why did you buy this car?" He smiled at me as we were driving down the road. He told me that when he was a kid, he always saw successful people driving big cars and made a vow to himself, that if he ever "made it" he would reward himself by getting a Cadillac. It had always been a dream of his and now it had happened. He smiled a lot that year.
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.
Let me give you an example. My father, Jack is a successful man and has always been a person with an incredible work ethic. He grew up poor in a small town in the south and through grit and hard work; he literally pulled himself up from manual laborer, to factory worker, to highly paid sales executive. When he reached a certain point in his career, he went out and bought a brand new Cadillac. I was a kid at the time and I didn't understand why he had bought the car, in my view at the time, "an expensive, gas guzzling" car. I asked him one day when we were driving, "Dad, why did you buy this car?" He smiled at me as we were driving down the road. He told me that when he was a kid, he always saw successful people driving big cars and made a vow to himself, that if he ever "made it" he would reward himself by getting a Cadillac. It had always been a dream of his and now it had happened. He smiled a lot that year.
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.
About the Author:
One of the leading experts on motivation Shawn Doyle is a Motivational Speaker He is the author of 10 books. For a free copy of Shawn's amazing book The 10 Foundations of Motivation, go to http://sldoyle.com.
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