In the last blog, I wrote about rewarding yourself after you complete a step towards your goal.
- If you would like to discuss what good rewards are, come to the next IMPACT Goal-setting workshop.
There is a reason for rewarding yourself after completing a step, but not after creating a new habit.
Gretchen Rubin, perhaps the habit guru, points out in her book Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Everyday Life, that rewards are extrinsic; they come from outside yourself.
This makes them suitable for acknowledging that you have completed a step, because a pat on the back can help motivate you to start the next step.
Rewards can provide a light at the end of the tunnel to guide you to complete a step.
On the other hand, rewards are not appropriate after forming a new habit, because the ideal habit has no end.
A habit becomes part of you, so the benefit you get is intrinsic.
Rubin mentions several studies where people have been less effective at establishing good habits as a result of being offered rewards.
If you would like to discuss when a reward is appropriate, then come to the next goalsetting course.