I have heard before that there are two ways people are driven to accomplish their goals. The first is reward based- you accomplish a goal and get a reward. The second is punishment based, meaning if you do not accomplish a goal, this will happen. Which are you? I am the latter. But, I am desperately trying to become the first.
Part of me loves the idea of getting a reward for accomplishing something, but the other part of me thinks, "if you do not accomplish the goal, you will not get that thing you really want." No fun. And, I know that all those goal oriented, reward driven people are saying, "then accomplish the goal, silly." You are right, but it is still hard. This may seem funny, but the way I have worked around the not-getting bit in the past is, are you ready? Not deciding a reward until after the goal is accomplished, then rewarding myself with a prize that seems appropriate for the effort. It works, and man does it work well. But, for a new goal I have, I have decided to do the more traditional route.
This time, I have chosen a reward before the goal is accomplished. Gasp. You may remember me talking about this Run Yogi Run shirt on a previous post (if you have hung around with me for that long). What you do not know is that I still have not bought it and I still thiking about it, pretty much, everyday. Do not ask me why it is not mine yet; maybe it is the price ($25.99) for a t-shirt, or the fact that I have to wait for it to be delivered before wearing it (we do live in an instant gratification society), or the fact that I cannot decide which color. Any which way you throw it, the shirt is still not on me and I still want it.
Drum roll please. I have decided that when I accomplish the Nike+ Run competition I am in right now, my reward will be this shirt. Yes, I am putting myself out there and the scariest thing is not the work it will take to win (which is A LOT), it is the idea of not getting the shirt I have been wanting for so long. If I fail, does that mean I never get the shirt? Do I just do another goal with the same reward? Should I get the shirt even if I come in second? Gah, there are so many questions that I think we will answer along the way.
Thank you for listening to the crazy ramblings of a not-type-a personality. If you have any goal making/succeeding recommendations, man would I be happy to hear them! For now though, let's go on some runs and beat some boys. Oh, and be sure to check back tomorrow and Friday at some pretty exciting new posts that I have been looking forward to (for one) for over a year now. The other is something that kind of fell into my lap and I am so excited about!!
Also, I have had dreams about this bread and have very serious plans of making it and eating all of it on my next splurge day.