Hey, Alex!
So a few years ago, after college I had some recording equipment and I decided to try my hand at VO recording. (That’s voice over for your information) Anyways, I ended up recording an audiobook about building good habits. “The Three Simple Ways to Build Good Habits: Unlock the Secrets to Building Good Habits and Achieve Your Goals”
It was a good way to earn money at home, but I also picked up a few good pieces of advice along the way. One of them is the idea of rewarding yourself. Basically, good habits are hard to build because they are often uncomfortable: exercising, getting up on time, being on time for appointments, eating your vegetables, etc. All of these are good things, but often we want to be selfish and choose to do things that make us feel good instead: watching tv, sleeping in, show up whenever we want, eat junk food. All of these undisciplined acts feel good in the moment, but are unfulfilling in the long term.
So, instead of succumbing to the temptation of mediocrity and laziness, some people use rewards to create an artificial positive association with an action: workout and record your results, wake up early and get a better breakfast, show up on time and get time to relax, finish your food and get dessert. Simple rewards like these can help you to change your attitude and make the most daunting tasks achievable!
For example, I was finding it hard to enjoy going to work and staying motivated throughout the day. Sometimes you work jobs that you enjoy intrinsically and others you work because you have to eat. For those latter jobs, I made sure that at the end of the day, if I worked productively all day, I rewarded myself with a bit chocolate. Just a piece of chocolate a day shouldn’t hurt my health, but it gave me enough of a dopamine hit to tell my brain “good job meeting expectations today.” After a couple of months, I didn’t need the chocolate anymore. I got through every day without an overwhelming amount of stress.
Eighteen months ago, I started a new job doing contract work. First off, they had a weekly tradition of having donuts on Monday. It really takes the edge off of the start of a new week. I was working 10 hours a day and I rewarded myself at lunch with one or two of those sandwich cookies. At the end of the day, I got to have another for doing all that hard labor for so long. After a couple of months, again, I started to prefer the long hours, I gained more confidence in my work, and I genuinely enjoyed my work as well. I didn’t really need the cookies, but I kept eating them the same way. You know why? Because I work hard and cookies are great in moderation.
Alex, we’ll talk on Tuesday!
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