Day Two: Rewards

I give myself rewards.

This may seem like a kind of strange thing to be proud of, but it is something I’m proud of. Whenever I need to get something done, I promise myself something in return. Sometimes it’s something small like getting Starbucks or a special candy bar. Sometimes it’s something more like a sweater I want or a new song on my Ipod. I try to match my reward to whatever it is I need to accomplish. 

Here’s an example: When I was graduating from my graduate program, I had to do something called a comp exam. For the education department it means writing a really long paper, answering questions about education theory and practice and backing it up with sources. Whatever. It’s a really long paper. Rather than save it to the last minute, I decided to write it over my spring break. As a reward, I was going to let myself get whatever I wanted in the Rockies Collection from Victoria’s Secret. The Rockies are my baseball team (even though they sucked this year) and it was a pretty big deal for me. So for spring break I spent six hours a day for five days in a coffee shop writing this ungodly long paper. (Final page count was like, thirty six, thirty eight pages or something.) When I finished, I turned in the paper, went to VS and got my sweatshirt and my t-shirt and my jersey. And then I spent the summer going to games and looking very sporty.

For the record, I received the highest honors on that paper.

The reason I’m proud of this trait is because I think we spend too much time punishing ourselves and not enough time rewarding ourselves. I know a lot of people who get coffee at Starbucks every day, which is fine. But imagine how much less guilty you would feel about your daily coffee fix if you attached it to something like taking out the trash in the morning, doing your homework promptly or, if you’re me, getting blood work done at the doctor’s. Society tells us that giving ourselves things that we want makes us greedy. That splurging on a cute dress or buying expensive coffee makes us bad with money. But think of it this way: my dog gets a treat every time he sits down, or rolls over, or is just generally good. Why shouldn't I get a treat whenever I do something I need to do? It makes me more likely to do it and get it done, and it also keeps me from feeling bad when I do something nice for myself.

It takes practice to feel good about yourself, and sometimes a chocolate bar helps you achieve that.

Challenge to my Readers:

Today you should do something you've been putting off. It can be cleaning out a closet, calling your grandmother/mother/distant relative. Maybe it’s not complaining when your co-workers didn't make any waffle cones the night before so you have to do them all this morning. Whatever it is, once it’s done, reward yourself.

And feel good about it.