How to Train Your Motivation with Rewards
Motivation is a fickle beast. Sometimes you are full of energy and motivated to finish that work project, get to the gym, make a healthy meal for yourself, or put down your phone and get outside.
Sometimes though, our higher good is drowned out by the allure of a quick fix. Why not skip the gym, where you have to work hard for the endorphins, in favor of scrolling on TikTok, where each and every swipe pumps dopamine into your brain?
This desire for the easy reward quickly backfires, though. As we get further away from our goals and true desires, we start to feel unhappy with ourselves.
You might even feel a burst of energy to have a fresh start and really get your life together, but that never seems to last either, does it? Anyone who has worked towards a goal will tell you that motivation is not a reliable form of energy.
But what if there was a way to train that motivation to be more consistent? There is! Just as you train a pet using treats, you can use a rewards system to train yourself into the habits that best serve you.
Why We Seek Rewards
Your brain is wired to seek opportunity and reward. In fact, this evolutionary desire is the reason humans developed all of the tools and systems that help us succeed today.
Our ancestors sought rewards in the form of hunting and gathering for survival and reproduction. If you could find food, water, and shelter, you could survive long enough to pass on your genes.
But what happens when all of our basic needs are met? If you look at the culture and health markers of our most affluent countries, humans will continue to seek rewards in the form of whatever is pleasurable.
This is cycle is sometimes referred to as the scarcity loop.
For some, this might mean a delicious meal or sweet treat. For others, reward might come in the form of drinking alcohol, using recreational drugs, gambling, or some other form of risky behavior that stimulates the pleasure centers of our brains.
Rewards don’t have to be bad, though. In fact, can we take this knowledge and use it to motivate ourselves to make good choices rather than bad ones? Experts think so!
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
In order to understand how we can reward ourselves into better habits, it’s helpful to understand exactly how motivation works. There are two main types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation is defined by the desire or drive to complete a task or engage in an activity because the act is inherently enjoyable or satisfying.
Examples of this could be playing your favorite sport just for the fun of it, learning a new hobby, or volunteering for a cause just because you care about it. No one has to direct you to do it and you are excited to participate just for the simple pleasure of or investment in the experience.
On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is defined by the promise of either reward or punishment that drives you to complete a task or engage in an activity.
Some examples of extrinsic motivation include studying to pass a test, working for a paycheck or conversely, working to avoid punishment.
While extrinsic motivation might not make you love studying or working, the reward you get from completing the task motivates you to keep going.
Reinforcement Theory
The cycle of work and reward actually results in the firing of dopamine neurons, responsible for the experience of pleasure. The good feelings you get from these rewards doubles back on itself, increasing our desire for the reward each time the cycle is reinforced.
This cycle can actually create a new form of motivation.
Think about how you train a dog to sit. At first, you probably offer him a treat every single time he sits because it reinforces that the action of sitting is correct and by completing the task he is rewarded. This is called continuous reinforcement.
Once the dog begins to sit each time you ask, you might not reward him each time, but rather move to a cycle of intermittent reinforcement. While he isn’t sure when the reward is coming, he will sit anyway knowing that he might be rewarded.
While the human brain and motivational center is more complex than that of a dog, the same sort of theory can work to create habits you desire but struggle to stick to.
How to Train Your Motivation
This technique is backed by science!
In fact, a 2018 study showed that when people receive frequent rewards for completing small tasks, participants had a higher interest in their work and derived more satisfaction from it than those who received one big reward at the end of a large project.
Remind you of anything? Much like your beloved pet learning to sit, you are highly motivated by the promise of a reward for a job well done, no matter how small the job.
If you can find ways to reward yourself frequently, especially when starting a new habit, you increase the likelihood that you will repeat that habit.
What’s more is you will actually reinforce that motivation over time, making it easier to carry out once difficult tasks, whether or not you get something out of it.
How does this look in action?
Well, say you want to get to the gym more frequently. Maybe each time you complete your workout, you treat yourself to a square of your absolute favorite chocolate bar or a small coffee from a cafe you love.
Maybe you have a work task that you absolutely dread doing. Each time you complete that task, let yourself go outside and enjoy the fresh air for 15 minutes.
Are you starting to get the idea? While treating yourself with candy after a workout might feel counterintuitive, remember that this tool is to help you build a habit.
Soon, you might find that completing that dreaded task or a hard workout is a reward in itself, and the satisfaction you get is enough to make you keep doing it, whether or not you get a square of chocolate.
And when that intrinsic motivation fails, you know you have a method to fall back on which will help get you out of that rut.
What We Learned
Motivation isn’t always straightforward, and it’s definitely not reliable. In fact, humans have been reliant on rewards to help motivate us to succeed since the beginning of our species.
You can use external motivation, or the promise of reward for completing a task, to help get yourself do unpleasant things like working out.
Each time you successfully complete a task, give yourself that reward and really savor it. Soon, you will have trained a new habit into your lifestyle that you don’t have to be motivated to do.
Here are some ideas for rewards you can use:
An hour spent on our favorite hobby, like coloring, drawing, reading, knitting, or jigsaw puzzling.
A piece of your favorite candy, baked good, or yummy drink.
Listening to your favorite song and singing as loud as you want.
An episode of your favorite show, watched with no guilt.
Time spent with someone you love.
A walk outside in the fresh air.
A new workout outfit or pair of gym shoes.
A fresh manicure or other beauty treatment (at home or at the salon!)
A relaxing bubble bath.
A new book, a succulent from the plant store, or a small accessory.
A short nap.
Anything can be a reward as long as its meaningful and special to you and is something that you only treat yourself to if you do the work— no cheating!
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