This week I will be discussing using small rewards to help motivate you to maintain your healthy habits. If you have not read part I of this series, please do so now. Remember you should have written down what healthy habits that you want to develop, and the starting date in your journal.
Let’s face it when the newness of starting a new habit wears off that’s when the majority of people stop and go back to the familiar. There is a proven system that works when you are struggling to maintain your healthy habits, and that is the use of small rewards. These rewards do not have to be monetary, they just have to be something you enjoy.
Do you remember when you were in grade school and your teacher would give you a gold star on a chart for completing an assignment? Think back to have you felt. Did it motivate you, encourage you, and did it work to get you to want to earn another gold star? I know for me, it worked! It was just a little gold star, but somehow we all knew that if we got a certain number of gold stars it would qualify us for a bigger prize.
Whatever healthy habit you are trying to develop, resistance will come. For example, if your new healthy habit is to walk in the morning, and every morning you get up since then has been cold and dark out. You will need some motivation to get you out of your warm bed, and out the house into the cold. Perhaps your small reward could be a hot cup of your favorite coffee or a relaxing evening with a movie. You decide the frequency of when you should receive your rewards by determining how difficult it is for you to maintain your healthy habits. In the beginning, you may need to reward yourself daily, and then taper off to weekly rewards.
Make sure that what you reward yourself is not a negative or bad habit. An example would be if you are trying to maintain a healthy habit of eating healthier, your reward should not be to have an entire day of eating unhealthy foods. Instead, your reward if you choose food, could be one small dessert that week.
Hopefully, you have found some that can encourage you and that you can be accountable to. As a life coach for women, I am available to encourage, equip, and strategize with you to help you achieve your healthy habits. Feel free to reach out with any questions.
Book your FREE Initial Consultation with me to see if life coaching and the services I offer are a right fit for you.
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