Webster’s defines reward as, “something given or received in recompense for worthy behavior” and I think that is a pretty solid definition. I would define reward as, giving yourself a dividend for all the hard work you have invested, so that you have a validation that your hard work is paying off. This helps increase motivation so you will continue wanting to work.
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:
• You will feel like you are making progress.
• To have a tangible reminder of why you are working so hard.
• To finalize the achievement of a specific goal.
• To help measure your progress and celebrate it.
• Because it feels great and motivates you even further.
Success Is A Blow Dryer
I once read an interesting story, about the author Steven King and his wife Tabitha. He and his wife struggled for years, as he tried to make a living as a writer. They didn’t as the saying goes, have “two coins to rub together”. He finally made it and signed a very lucrative book deal. He told his wife that they had finally “made it” and she asked “does that mean I can afford to buy a blow dryer now?” She had not been able to afford a blow dryer and now a blow dryer was in reach. She said that blow dryer, when she bought it, meant a great deal to her, more than anyone can imagine.
It is essential to have goals, both short and long term. It is also vitally important to tie to those goals, specific rewards.
Let’s say for example that you want to lose weight, you are making a commitment to a diet and exercise program. The first step would be to decide on the specific goals long term. Let’s say your goal was to lose 50 pounds. That would be the long term goal. Next, you would need to break it down, into specific short term goals. Let’s say, you decide that it is reasonable to lose 2 pounds a week. It is great to have the long and short term goal and to have the specific details in writing, but this is where most people stop. A missing part of the equation is the setting of long term and short-term rewards. It may be a trip, a special piece of clothing, or a new type of fitness machine that you have spotted in the stores (this is great choice because it is a reward but tied specifically to the goal you are trying to reach). The long-term goal and the long-term reward have now been set.
Next, it is time to establish a short-term reward, which is tied to the benchmarks that you have set along the way. For example, the first short term goal may be “to lose 10 pounds.” Maybe it is a trip to your favorite salon for a manicure, or the purchase of a small item. When you use this “carrot and stick” reward system you will be so fired up that nothing can stand in your way!
Every time I have been promoted, my family has taken me out to dinner to celebrate .Why? My wife and my daughter inherently understand the value of reward. I think that deep inside, we all understand the value of reward, because we all grew up in school systems that rewarded performance. We saw people get rewards for honor roll, athletic achievement and awards for other activities. I think that as adults, we forget that reward is important or we know it is important and just get too busy to reward ourselves.
I have had my eye on a very sophisticated and expensive fitness machine for a long time. I watched the commercials; I ordered the video and reviewed the literature. I just had a real hard time with the decision, because of the expense. I received a significant promotion at work, my wife ordered it for me as a reward and I was quite shocked when it arrived. I was grinning from ear to ear. When I see that machine I don’t see the machine. I see it as a symbol of my achievement! It is absolutely essential that you can see tangible results of your hard work.
There are people I know that are really into yard work. When I ask my buddy Bob about it, he says he likes yard work because he is outside, it is good exercise and he enjoys it. Here is a theory, I think the reason that most people enjoy yard work is simply this, when they are done they can see a tangible, visual result of their effort. In life, most goals attained don’t have as obvious or visible results that we can stand back and look at and say, “I did this!” That why it is so very important to reward the achievement of your goals.
A Mind Is A Terrible Thing Not To Reward
Let me make a very important point here. This is not about rampant materialism or greed, or selfishness. This is about psychological reward. As much as we would like to think we can’t be manipulated, we can be influenced easily. Human beings are raised, taught to crave appreciation, and reward. It is just the way we are “wired”. If the idea of material possessions as a reward bothers you, then you can decide on other kinds of rewards such as spending a weekend camping, or a visit to your favorite museum, or a visit with a friend who lives in another state. Because it is your reward system, it is entirely up to you to decide on the reward.
I believe that the reason people give up hope, lose their zest, and motivation is the lack of reward. They get up every day, go to work, work really hard, and at the end of the week they get a modest check. By the time they pay their bills there is nothing left. It’s the classic rendition of the Tennessee Ernie Ford song I owe my soul to the company store. There is an endless cycle of work hard, pay bills, work hard, pay bills. This creates an endless cycle with no reward. This creates a sense of hopelessness. Ironically, the very person that is caught up in the cycle creates this situation. The cycle is created by not having specific goals and reward mechanisms.
Now a word of warning many people will set goals both short and long term with a reward mechanism. They truly make a commitment to the process, and they reach the goals that they set. At that point, they stop short and back off of the reward that they had planned. They may say, “well this is kind of expensive” or “I will wait until later.” This is a huge error! By setting the goals and agreeing on a reward for achieving it you have programmed your subconscious. When you back off from the reward portion, you are setting yourself up for failure the next time. Your brain will say, “We are setting a goal and a reward”, another part of you will be saying “Yeah right, last time there was supposed to be a reward and it didn’t happen!” So in the simplest of terms, your subconscious mind will feel cheated and so will you.
I am very fortunate. As a child my parents were always reinforcing the work hard/ set goals/get rewards model. One summer at the age of ten, I worked really hard babysitting, mowing lawns and saving every penny for the apple of my eye a drum set! When I was 2/3 of the way to my goal, I was surprised by my parents who gave me the last 1/3 of the money to buy the drum set. Of course they enhanced the message, by buying the drum set and having it sitting in the living room when I came home from school. I will never forget what they said. “We are very proud of you and the hard work you have done this summer. We have been impressed that you saved every penny. This is the reward for all the hard work.” That reinforced the message for me in a very powerful way.
I also would suggest that as a parent, friend, manager or colleague that you use the mechanism of reward. The technique can work with other people and can help motivate and inspire them. As a manager, I have often taken team members to lunch as a reward, to thank them for their hard work. I also have found notes, letters or memos to be a very effective motivational tool. As a parent, it is essential to teach your children the value of setting goals, achieving them and being rewarded. This is a concept that they can carry with them to a successful future, and life.
There was an ad campaign in the past for Toyota, which was “Oh what a feeling!” If you practice the technique of setting goals and rewarding yourself, you will be using a motivational tool, which is the fuel that will drive your passion and motivation. With goals and rewards you will truly be unstoppable!
Shawn Doyle is the President of New Light Learning and Development
(http://www.newlightlearning.com) a company specializing in Leadership Developmentand motivation. He is a sought after motivational speaker and coach. Shawn has authored five books on leadership sales and motivation. His latest book The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Training has just been published by HRD Press. Sldoyle1@aol.com
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