USING REWARDS TO DEVELOP POSITIVE HABITS

I recently saw a tweet that say “Stop rewarding yourself with food, you are not a dog.” The truth is that rewarding yourself with food might just lead you to develop positive habits. You can actually program yourself to feel eager to start a goal and see it through to execution. Simply give yourself a reward at each step.

In psychology, this is called “Operant Conditioning.” It is a technique used to train both kids and animals. It posits that behaviour is shaped by designing a specific result or consequence that follows every act of the individual. Rewards reinforce specific behaviours while punishments tend to discourage certain behaviours. The habits of individuals can be shaped with repeated rewards.

Research shows that 95 percent of everything you do or fail to do, is because of your habits. You develop good habits by creating a reward system of rewarding yourself every time you do something positive until you rewire your subconscious mind.

Your reward doesn’t have to be food (but I am a foodie, so I have to reward myself with food). Just ensure that the reward is something simple, such as a coffee break, quickie, walk break or lunch. If it is a major task, you can reward yourself with a quickie, shopping spree, vacation or weekend getaway.
It is important that when you create a reward system, you discipline yourself not to tale the reward until you have completed the goal. This would take your attention away from the difficulty of the task itself to the ‘enjoyment you will use to kill yourself’ when you complete the goal,

You can practice operant conditioning with your team members, employees and kids. This is not to shade to any company, but most start-ups in Nigeria that do not pay their employees well use operant conditioning by offering them pizza breaks, karaoke nights, team bonding retreats, movie and game nights when the job is done satisfactorily.

CREATE A REWARD SYSTEM, YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT HOW QUICKLY YOU DEVELOP POSITIVE HABITS

Written by: Olamipo Adeniji