E32: How to Reward Yourself for Reaching Goals

How to reward yourself for reaching goals

Transcript

How to reward yourself for reaching goals

What are some good rewards for when you reach your goals - for yourself, as a coach, and working with Juniors

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Last week we talked about reevaluating your goals to see what is working and what isn’t and using the O-O-D-A loop, OBSERVE, ORIENT, DECIDE, and ACT to determine what your next step should be.  Reevaluating your goals is not just about looking back at what is working and not working, it is about looking forward to creating and modifying the plan and the next step to success.  This week we will be looking at different ways to reward yourself when you achieve your goals.

Why do we reward ourselves?  In our goal setting plan, we have put together a timeline with small goals and milestones to reach those goals.  These small goals help you to stay on track and give you a series of times in which to reevaluate your goals.  These smaller goals and milestones also give you an opportunity to reward yourself for a job well done.  When you reach a goal, your body releases dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that is involved in pleasurable reward and motivation.  It is what gives you a feeling of pleasure when you accomplish a task.  

Rewards help you to stay motivated when things get difficult and can also aid in preventing burnout. There are two types of motivation that we discussed in episode 2: Internal and External.  Internal motivation (also called intrinsic motivation) is when we do something because the action goes along with our values or we enjoy doing the task. We are internally motivated when the reason to do something comes from within us.  External motivation (also called extrinsic motivation) is when we have an outside influence that is the reason that we act a certain way. Rewards are a type of external motivation as they are either a tangible thing or coming from another person.

Rewards provide a sense of accomplishment, motivation, and are useful to help you acknowledge the hard work you have done so far. Rewards also decrease procrastinating and assist you in sticking to the timeline you created for yourself.  It focuses your thinking and behavior to stay in line with your goals.  This will also decrease distractions better as your focus stays on your goals and the path that you set for yourself.  Finally, goals will provide positive reinforcement to turn your behavior into a regular practice.  

We are going to discuss rewards from three different scenarios:  Rewards that you create for yourself; rewards that a coach creates for his or her team; and a reward system that is created for junior athletes.

When you are creating a reward for yourself you want to make sure that the reward works well with the goals that you have. For example if you are working on building muscle mass for your sport, you may not want your reward to be eating a donut or something else that would not be a healthy option. You want your reward to be something that will make you want to work harder without getting in the way of your larger goal. An example of a reward that work in a sports setting is: Any type of physical recovery that is beneficial, such as Going to get a sports massage

When you are a coach creating a reward system for your team will depend on the age and level of athlete that you are working with. When working with Junior athletes, there are two reward structures we are going to look at: individual and competitive. An individual reward structure is one that focuses on an athlete’s control over their skill development, learning from mistakes and improving personal performance. This individual reward structure is more in line with intrinsic or internal motivation. A competitive rewards structure focuses on athletes comparing their skill level to the skill level of other athletes (social comparison) and the outcome of their performance (for example, winning a trophy). The competitive rewards structure is more of an example of extrinsic motivation.

A quick note: research in developmental psychology shows that athletes between 8 and 12 years old measure their success based on significant adults such as parents and coaches feedback. Due to this fact individual rewards are very important for children under the age of 12 years old because they help young athletes understand how to evaluate their improvement themselves instead of relying only on an outside source for evaluation of their skill. 

By the age of 14 athletes young athletes are more capable of measuring success through multiple sources such as enjoying the activity, how easy it is to learn a new skill, how good they are relative to another person, etc. At this point their evaluation skills increase to the point where they can put into perspective winning compared with individual Improvement.  Athletes over this age can benefit from the full spectrum of reward systems.  From a skill level perspective, the higher the skill level, the more internally motivated the athletes tend to be.  The feeling from competition is a motivator in itself, as is the external motivation of winning. As a coach, talking to these higher level athletes about what is their preferred rewards style and incorporating that is the most effective method.

To Review the goal setting series:

1. Create goals that matter to you.  Examine your goal to make sure that they are realistic and measurable and use small goals as milestones to go toward your larger goals.
2. Reevaluate your goals throughout your timeline to see what is working and what needs to be changed.
3. Reward yourself when you achieve small goals or milestones to help you to stay motivated and to prevent burnout.
4. As a coach, when working with athletes, be sure to make the rewards age and skill level appropriate for the athletes that you are working with.

For more information on the goal setting process, contact me at RattoConsulting.com.  If you or your coaches or organization are interested in hosting a workshop or virtual seminar on this or any other sports psychology or performance optimizing topic, please email me at Laura@RattoConsulting.com.  

“You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.” ~ Les Brown