The Importance Of a Reward

A reward might not seem like a lot; it might just be a scoop of ice cream or an extra hour of sleep, but it has much more of an impact than we imagine.

It's important that we give ourselves a reward for what we have done. It's a way that we can say that we did something and accept it as a step towards success. Without a reward, you keep expecting yourself to achieve the same thing without any positive associations. Imagine this: You get an A+++ with 5 smiley-faces on a test. You should give yourself a treat, something that will make you give yourself a pat on the back and confirm that you are a worthy person and in basically awesome.

Instead, it's more often that we accept it without any sort of indication that we are aware of this. Because we don't give ourselves a reward for overcoming something, we use it to set the bar higher. So the next time, if we don't achieve that, we feel disappointed that we haven't even met our 'basic' requirement for success. We need a reward to keep us motivated and to reassure ourselves of a job well done.

So next time you accomplish something, go watch that movie you've been dying to see or take a break from studying and go out to dinner with some friends! Trust us, you'll be happier in the future.