Pushing Through   that middle part of your journey. This week, it’s time to talk about what keeps you going—Rewarding Yourself.

Rewarding Yourself? What’s THAT About?

Rewards are what keeps us on track. They’re what keeps us going when we have a big goal to accomplish—a big goal that may seem far away. I’m not talking about a pat on the back every time you work out. I’m not talking about scarfing down a bag of potato chips for every day you don’t order fries at lunch. And I’m definitely not talking about giving yourself a cookie every time you run a mile. (That sounds kind of counter productive, no?) To reward yourself, you need to break down your goals and set a reward for completing those goal, a little bit at a time. ***FYI: My posts may contain affiliate links which means, if you click on those links and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission, at no cost to you.

Big Goal Accomplishment=Rewarding Yourself

I have this AWESOME planner that I got at the beginning of the school year, and it’s really been helping me set and stick to big goals. I have used planners in the past and I’ve rarely been able to stick with them. After a while, I have usually resorted to sticky notes that end up all over the house with absolutely no rhyme or reason to them. I’ve found countless sticky notes at the bottom of my purse—months after the things on the list needed to be done. The Law of Attraction Planner has been a game changer. The planner breaks down goals into monthly, weekly, and daily, allowing you to set rewards for yourself once you hit the goal. I personally don’t reward myself for the daily goals, but I allow myself a reward for “getting through the week”. Basically, Friday is the day I let myself relax and not worry about accomplishing much. I don’t work out and I let myself have a drink with dinner. That may not seem like much of a reward, but I need it soooo much by the end of the week. The reason I don’t think rewarding yourself daily is a good strategy—at least not for me: It would probably end up being counterproductive—like those cookies I was talking about. I run an extra mile, I let myself have a cookie? Probably not a good idea. Plus, I would probably spend soooo much time each day trying to figure out what to reward myself with that I wouldn’t have time to actually perform the task I need to do. My monthly goals are, in my opinion, reward worthy. Like a tangible reward. This way, each week (and subsequently each DAY) I’m making strides with that monthly goal in mind.

Okay, So How Do You Plan?

I sit down at the beginning of every week and map out my goals and tasks for the week, based on what is a priority. This was difficult for me to do at first, but after listening to a few of Ruth Soukup’s “Do It Scared” podcasts, I got a lot of great ideas about how to prioritize my goals. For example, I list all my week goals and label them: A, B and C. The A goals are imperative to do FIRST. Then my B goals, then, if there is time (which there usually isn’t), my C goals. I LOVE checking things off a To-Do list, so I absolutely adore this planning style. And I know a lot of people who get a kick out of this as well. Not only do we get to check things off a list, but we accomplish the goals in the process. Plus, by factoring in a “reward” at the end we are even more motivated to accomplish our goals. It’s a total win win win situation. For me at least. Everyone has a different style, but if you’re like me and like to visually plan out your day with a clear expectation…this strategy may work well for you.

I Have Tried to Get Healthier in the Past…

Many, many times I’ve tried to set a goal to “get healthier”. I’ve set goals like to eat better, cut out snacks, work out more, drink more water, etc. etc… Ninety-nine percent of the time I give up after two weeks. Usually it’s because I normally take an “all or nothing” approach to my goals of getting healthier. I  remain so focused on the goal, that when the goal is nowhere in sight. After a few weeks, it still seems so far away, and I give up.  Just like A LOT of people do. I bet many of you have done just the same. That’s why I’ve found this planning approach, being able to visualize goals in a step-by-step manner (with rewards!) has been working for me. At no point in time do I truly feel deprived. And if I am completely honest, nothing I am doing with this “lifestyle change” is all that crazy. There’s nothing I say “I can’t have that” about. Maybe, “I shouldn’t have that today“, but nothing is completely off limits.

This is so much easier for me than it has ever been in the past.

It would work for a lot of people—people who have failed before. Rewarding yourself is the key to accomplishing your goals. Because not only are you striving to reach your goals (that may seem far away), but you’re striving to reach your reward as well. And the reward is a heck of a lot closer than your long term goal.

This Could Work with Different Goals, Too.

This approach doesn’t need to be exclusive to weight loss or trying to get healthy. It would work for any big goal you have—getting organized, writing a book, starting a business. If you break your big goals into smaller, more manageable pieces, you feel like you’re accomplishing something. AND you get to reward yourself for getting there.

So Where Has the Rewarding Yourself Approach Gotten Me?

Well, I am 5 weeks into Getting Uncomfortable and I have hit a reward milestone. At the beginning of February, I set a goal to be down 10 lbs from my original weight of 147.4 lbs. This is what I saw on the scale today: Yes, I am off by 0.2 lb and yes, I still desperately need a pedicure (maybe I should put that in my planner for this week…), but for all intents and purposes…

I NAILED THAT GOAL!

I am SO rewarding myself for this one. And my reward? Well, it’s shopping, but not just any shopping. You see, when I gained weight, the first thing that got tight? MY UNDERWEAR. Yup. I was so uncomfortable that I went out and got the next size up. And guess what? That stretched out, too. So for my reward…underwear that fits. Hey, it’s the little things! And maybe a pedicure, too. After all, you guys don’t want to see my peeling nail polish a THIRD week in a row do you? So start rewarding yourself for reaching your goals. I bet it’ll make things a lot easier! https://youtu.be/BlX5_gWFKRM]]>