“Joy is the ultimate reward in life.”
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January is almost gone and with the month ending, reflection begins on the New Year’s resolutions, intentions or goals. Am I still doing what I set out to do or do I need to look for ways to keep the momentum going?
Just like the quote says, “Joy is the ultimate reward in life”, so when the resolve starts wavering the joy gets lost. Would more time or a different way to do things help?
Here are my thoughts…….
Knowing there was a reward waiting for me when I finished an extra workout, write an extra blog post, clean out a drawer/closet, would help my momentum but not necessarily my joy.
So I decided to switch it up and get the reward first……you know the saying “Eat dessert first.”
For me, I have found if I rewarded myself first, “I’m going to take a walk with the dogs and then I will sit with my project for the next 30 minutes,” my 30 minutes would last longer before my attention span hollered for the next reward/break.
Now I know for some this may seem like a bad idea, you may wander down a rabbit hole and never get your work done, which may be true unless you set a time limit for your reward too.
And that’s the key, your reward has to be on a time limit to balance out the benefit of reward first then work.
Tiny steps will move you forward in both reward and work balance, giving you the ability to get more done without feeling like you have to put your nose to the grindstone before you get to take the reward break.
Give it a try, switch up your reward system and see if there is more “joy” in your life, the joy in knowing that your New Year’s resolutions will survive in the long run.