Celebrate Success! Reward Yourself for Staying on Track

When you were a kid, didn’t you love getting reward goodies? Stickers for excellent marks at school. The new crayons you got for not throwing a tantrum in the doctor’s office.

Adults sometimes think they’ve outgrown rewards. The gold star for good behavior seems like an unnecessary, even silly, indulgence. Not so! Managers in the workplace know how important it is to give rewards for good performance because of the recognition and the motivation people get from them. So why not apply this wisdom to recognize and support your own performance?

This Active Living article is about rewards:

• Why rewards for good behavior are important
• How you can reward yourself without spending a lot

Rules for Rewards

Rules for rewards? There aren’t many.

• Rewards should be meaningful and pleasurable to you. Rewarding yourself with a hip-hop music CD when your preference is Brazilian salsa music is just not ... rewarding.
• Rewards should reinforce your goal. Ending your mall walk with a visit to the cookie shop isn’t consistent with your goal. You’d probably agree that checking out the latest sporting goods shop or getting a facial are better “reinforcers” of your physical activity.
• Rewards can be used to celebrate short-term goals. You don’t have to wait for “the big one” to reward your progress.

Getting the Goods

Rewarding yourself has legitimate benefits. Rewards motivate you. They reinforce your commitment. They advertise your success. And, most importantly, they make you happy. If you have a support group or activity partners, you might consider rewarding the whole group to support the supporters who support you.

Think about those things that make you happy but you often don’t get for yourself. Make an appointment for a manicure, get a massage, purchase that golf club you’ve been hankering for, sign up for a craft or wood-working class, visit a botanical garden or the art museum.

But rewards don’t have to be big or expensive. Here are some more ideas:

• Call a friend or family member to report your success.
• Put a sticker on your calendar for each day you achieve your daily activity goal. You may think this sounds silly, but you’ll be surprised at your sense of achievement when you see your calendar full of stickers. And you’ll be motivated to keep going.
• Buy a new pair of walking shoes at the end of the first six months of your activity program. Experts recommend replacing your shoes every six months.

How do you plan to reward yourself? Write out your rewards.

Summary

• It’s not only legitimate to reward yourself, it helps motivate you to stay on track.
• Rewards should support your diabetes control plans.
• Rewards should be meaningful to you and reinforce your goal.
• Reward yourself when you reach short-term and long-term goals.