What’s the Deal with Rewards?

I, for one, can be highly motivated to accomplish a task given the right reward. When I was in high school and college, I would go to any length to improve my grade point average. I even missed out on a BILLY JOEL concert, 3rd row seats, in order to study for an Economics exam. (Yes, book smart, life stupid! LOL!)

But the wrong reward doesn’t do me any good. For instance, I’m one of those funny people who can’t be content with a job just because the pay is good. If you offer to pay me more to do something I don’t want to do, it isn’t going to change the fact that I don’t want to do it. (I actually thought everybody was like this, but I noticed in the corporate world that I seemed to be in the minority on this point.)

During a discussion about the next online class I just had to take, Shonna suggested I use online classes as a reward: finish a goal, take an online class. That doesn’t seem to work for me either. I don’t consider them extras like a Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino with double chocolate. (Now there’s a reward!) I consider classes and books part of my career growth. (An addiction, perhaps. But necessary!)

And here’s a mindbender – maybe, just maybe, you aren’t a rewards-oriented person. A shocking thought, I know! But everyone has a motivation for what they do. Everyone. For everything. And the point with rewards is that you are trying to find motivation to do something, in this case, write. What will motivate you? The thrill of announcing at your 10th high school reunion (or your 20th or your 50th) that you have just been published in Cosmopolitan magazine? The look on your mother’s (or mother-in-law’s) face when you tell her the big screen TV you just gave her for Christmas came out of your “hobby” money? Or perhaps something more in line with our traditional idea of a reward – like a new pair of shoes.

So first, figure out your motivation, not just what pushes you along like an autumn breeze, but that driving gale wind that keeps you from stopping no matter what. Figure it out and write it down.

Second, figure out how long it takes for you to curl up in a little ball in the face of that gale wind and quit trying so hard even though you still want “it” – the goal. Let’s face it, we all hit those fetal position times. What will either keep you from giving in, or get you back on your feet again? The “what” is the reward you need. The “how long” is how often you need to reward yourself.

For me, both vary. I found that out through years of introspection and trial and error. The key is to recognize the symptoms of “fetal syndrome” before it knocks my legs out from under me, then talk to the 7-year-old whiner inside and ask her what she needs to just get through one more store in the mall for Mommy. Remember those days? Those glorious days when your whining actually got you something you wanted? (My husband says my whining still gets me what I want. I’m not so sure!  LOL!) Try thinking of rewards as something the 7-year-old in you needs to keep going. Or think of them in ANY WAY YOU NEED TO in order to find a way to keep your writer happy and writing.

Because that’s what it’s all about.