Rewards That Motivate - Steve Vogel Learning Strategist

From last week, the difference between rewards and reinforcers: Reinforcers are for effort. Rewards are for results or goals reached. I hope you found some reinforcers that worked for you and made your week more effective–more gain with less pain.

This week, we’re on to the strategic use of rewards.

There are rewards that are determined by others: the good grade, or meaningful recognition from others, or a special gift such as your first car for passing a tough year, or an incentive bonus at work. We look forward to these external rewards and enjoy them as others mark our accomplishments and milestones.

Not every accomplishment or milestone gets externally rewarded. Sometimes the pleasure we have in what we have done or created is the intrinsic reward of performing the task or savoring the result. We thrill rereading our finished dissertation, or recalling how we nailed the presentation.

But some accomplishments or milestones have no external or adequate intrinsic reward. An A on a course can be intrinsically rewarding, but sometimes may not seem to adequately mark the effort it took to complete the work for a challenging course. This is where building in your own reward for achieving a goal or a milestone gives you something to look forward to that is down the road from the day-to-day planning and effort.

The “When” Reward, and the “If” Reward

“When” rewards are like reinforcers in that you give yourself the reward when you have reached the milestone. “If” rewards are like external rewards in that you give yourself the reward if you achieve the goal.

I recommend that you use both. For example, “WHEN I have written the last exam, I will binge watch the entire House series.” “IF I get a 2.75 or higher on my courses this term, I will buy the Nike Air Max shoes instead of making my runners last another term.”

The Reward Statement

Your rewards work as motivators if they are (a) for important achievable goals, (b) are something you look forward to, and (c) are realistic and not dependent on others to fulfil. Writing out a reward statement means that you have that motivational thought ready to hand automatically when you just don’t feel like doing what is next on your planner and need something to look forward to that gives you the extra push.

The reward statement looks like this:

WHEN I have _______________________________, I will _________________________.

IF I _______________________________________, I will _________________________.

For those of you familiar with the psychology of thinking processes, you will recognize that this is using bottom up thinking to firm up your goals and rewards, and top down thinking to call on them as you need them.

The Rewards

I cannot tell you what rewards will be significant for you, of course. I can suggest that they (a) do not break the bank, (b) are not something that you are going to do whether you meet the goal or not, and (c) give you pleasure to anticipate. Here are some examples that others have found rewarding:

Spending an afternoon just driving, exploring new areas
Spending an afternoon on a nature walk, celebrating your accomplishment
Finding a new restaurant you’ve heard about, but not tried (either with a friend, or by yourself), savoring the taste of each bite
Walking through a familiar park with your phone, stopping and noticing every sight, smell, and sound
Getting out your oil pastels and spending a weekend revisiting sketches and techniques
Taking the dog for a walk or a run on the beach without having to rush through the walk–play as long as you both can stand it
Exploring a mall with your phone (discreetly, safely and politely)–observing people and displays
Kicking up a planned purchase to the next affordable notch
Revisiting an old favourite bike route or finding a new route to run–feeling the wind on your face, the stretch in your muscles
A physical token or trophy that you can view and touch, reminding yourself every time you see it that you did this
. . . .
. . . .

Caution

It is really, really important that you actually take the reward when the milestone is met or the goal achieved. Life happens, and considerate people can keep deferring good things they have promised themselves as they help friends, colleagues, and family. That is why it is important to make the rewards realistic, and to actually take them. You keep your promise to yourself so that you will believe yourself next time.

And if you don’t reach your goal? Say a B- instead of a B? Or an F instead of a Pass? That is why the “When” reward. Take it. Put aside the “If” reward for next time. Grieve a little bit. Endorse yourself for the effort you have made (you should do that regardless of the outcome), and set a time for analysis and planning after you have had a chance to catch your breath.

Let me know what works for you. Or what doesn’t. And if you are planning to optimizing your study effort during the breakneck pace of Spring and Summer sessions, connect with me to set up a planning session [email protected]