043: Chasing The Carrot: How To Motivate Yourself To Succeed

I am sure you have all seen the picture of the carrot tied on a stick, dangling out in from of of an animal pulling a cart. That picture makes us smile, but the thought behind that tactic is actually a very effective one. Create a system of goals and rewards. Rewarding yourself for the hard work you’ve done can be extremely valuable, especially when you had to push yourself out of your comfort zone to achieve it. Not sure where to start? Check out this episode, Dustin and I will help get you started!

Here’s What You’ll Learn [1:15] How to take inventory of your rewards [5:30] Think about the time you have been offered a carrot [6:15] Why you need a motivation system. [8:30] Dreaming can be a huge motivating factor [9:15] The key to a reward system [10:15] Goals vs. Rewards [11:30] Breaking down a goal [12:15] The two kinds of goals: personal and business [13:00] Creating personal goals [14:45] Creating business goals [16:45] The rewards system [21:15] Write in the reward like it’s part of the checklist

[25:00] Big Buckets, medium rewards, and little nuggets

The key to a great reward system

Everyone is motivated by slightly different things. When I was in sales, there were breakpoints that offered higher commissions if I exceeded goals. For some people, cash is the best motivation, others prefer recognition or incentives like vacation or a weekend getaway! Whatever motivates you, create a reward system that helps keep you motivated as you are working on achieving your goals!

What is the difference between goals and rewards?

To clarify, accomplishing a goal is not the same as the reward for that goal. The goal is usually task related. The reward is how you feel after that task is done. For many people, it’s hard to stay focused on big goals for a long time, so I recommend breaking that goal down into smaller steps. For example, if you have a goal of becoming an online influencer, you might start by starting a blog. Seeing your content live online is not the reward, that’s the goal. Celebrating the launch of your blog by going out to dinner with friends, that’s the reward!

Personal vs. business goals

You should build a reward system for both your personal goals, as well as your business goals. Personal goals could include things like wanting to learn spanish, owning a vacation home, more quality time with family, reading more books, or hitting that ideal weight. Business goals could include growing your clientele, creating an online course, engage an audience through speaking events or writing a book. These are just a few of our goals, what are some of yours?

Big Rewards, medium rewards, and little nuggets

The rewards must fit the goal, otherwise it’s hard to motivated. When you are creating a to-do list for your goals, put the reward down as the last item on that checklist. That goal is not complete until you have rewarded yourself! Here are a few of OUR rewards that Dustin and I have set up for our goals: Taking a vacation, eventually going to the world cup, hosting friends for dinner, a day at the spa, the simplicity of a Starbucks Latte, a weekend getaway, and sometimes, just a stick of sugar-free gum at the end of a work day. Some of these are big rewards, some of them are medium-sized, and some are just little nuggets that keep us motivated!

Resources & People Mentioned theworthitpodcast.com/visiondownload Workfly app Connect With Danielle and Dustin Ask your questions! On Facebook On Twitter Connect with Dustin on Twitter: @DRGranger