Article first published as Using Rewards to Reach Your Goals on Technorati.
Almost five months have gone by since most of us made a New Year’s resolution or two. What has become of yours? Hopefully you’re among the lucky few who have been able to stick with it and are well on the road accomplishing what you set out to. If you’re like most everyone else, however, things probably stalled out months ago. But don’t despair! With seven months left in 2011 there is still plenty of time, and a reward system can help.
The first step, of course, is to figure out what your goal is. Perhaps it’s the same as it was back in January, or maybe it’s something totally new. In either case it needs to be well defined. For example, “I would like to consistently visit the gym three times per week,” is a very specific goal, but “I want to get in shape,” is a little too amorphous. If you need more help clarifying your goal, read about SMART goal-setting from the American Council on Exercise—this system works for all types of goals, not just health and fitness.
The second step is to break the main goal down into smaller goals. Using my example from above I might say to myself, “Well, I only go to the gym maybe once a month now, so if I could just get myself there once per week that would be a great start.” Then my second mini-goal would be to go twice per week, and finally I would add the third day.
Then the final step is to figure out how you will reward yourself each time you reach one of your smaller goals. Continuing with the example, this is what I might come up with:
- After I go to the gym once a week for four weeks in a row I will buy myself that cute exercise outfit I saw at the store.
- After I make it to the gym twice a week for four weeks in a row I will splurge on a manicure and pedicure.
- When I make it to the gym three times a week for four weeks in a row I will take that vacation day I’ve been meaning to use and just relax for the whole day.
Your rewards can be as big or as little as you like, but the key is that they be something meaningful that will motivate you to work toward your goal. The one caveat to this rule is that if your goal has anything to do with weight loss, your reward should never be about food—that is always an accident waiting to happen.
There’s no time like the present, so why wait for January to roll around again!
