Reward is its own Reward

By setting up small, achievable goals, you will reinforce the actions and behavior necessary to reach your overall goal. An even better way to help prod you along is to reward yourself. That’s right. More than just reaching over your shoulder for a pat on the back, give yourself something to look forward to in addition to reaching your small goal.

If your goal is to lose 30 pounds, don’t wait until you have reached 30 pounds to reward yourself; celebrate when you lose 5 pounds, then 10 pounds, 15 pounds, and so on. Obviously your reward isn’t a Whopper with cheese. Maybe it is a new pair of jeans or a music CD.

Whatever the reward, it is yours to choose, but please do give yourself a tangible, meaningful “atta boy” when you reach the small goals. Not only does it give you something to look forward to, it lubricates the process of achieving your goal and reinforces the positive behavior you want. It works for dogs and children, why not ourselves?

Small goals

 

Stepping stones... small goals... good analogy, no?

There are too many variables that affect your ability to attain your goal. That’s a lot of time and energy to manage unforeseen events. Small goals are like hand-to-hand combat or short, manageable steps that get you to your goal. A series of short, easier goals is equal to one, large, “impossible” goal. By succeeding in numerous smaller goals, you are likely to increase your energy, motivation and self-confidence.




Publishing this blog is a BIG THING goal (at least for me) comprised of several small goals. I could never have written this book were it not for breaking it up into small, manageable pieces that I could easily digest. Notwithstanding that all of it is in my head, when sat down the first time to hammer out a small book from A to Z, I was immediately daunted, disconcerted, discouraged and disenchanted. I was intimidated by the thought of swallowing a whale in one sitting. I couldn’t do it!

It was just too much until I remembered my own philosophy of small goals. By consuming the whale pieces at a time, over time, I would swallow that sucker yet! And if you are reading this right now, you know I did.

In marathoning, the small, measurable goals are just as obvious. The long runs of 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 miles are certainly significant benchmarks. Completing any one of these small goals is an achievement in itself.

Think of it. Have you ever run 12 miles? Can you imagine it? It is a small goal on the way to your larger goal. You’re gonna do it on the way to marathon glory!

Other small, measurable goals of marathon success include finishing a 5K, 10K, 10-miler, and half-marathon. Competing in these races demonstrate your success by merely finishing. They are also great indicators of how fast you run and how well you perform under race conditions.

Drawing again on the “I want to be a doctor” paradigm, one can measure success by getting into college, get the necessary grades, getting into medical school, and getting into an internship. Sure, these are obvious benchmarks, and an aspiring doctor can modify appropriate, personal small goals, but it is important to understand that often there are obvious indicators of our success that are occasionally, or routinely, dismissed as incidental. They are, however, your best report card on your progress.

Think also of a football team. A football team wants the touchdown. It is literally their goal. But they don’t normally go for it each play. Usually – and I’m not coach – they seek small goals. Several first downs to get them closer. Each play is not intended to gain 100 yards and score a touchdown; rather, they are more designed for short yardage.