Today, you will learn about creating a reward that makes habits satisfying.

Getting a habit to stick, is difficult! If it was easy you wouldn’t need to help of a challenge or a class to understand what a habit is and how they work.  Habits after all are something we do in repetition that becomes part of our lifestyle.  To make a habit stick, we need to feel successful, and that we are moving towards something and taking steps – even if they are baby steps. 

We are essentially the sum of our habits…remember that.

To get a habit to stick, we need to feel a reward.  Rewards are a key aspect of habit formation.  The feeling that comes with the reward – pleasure, satisfaction, enjoyment, relief, accomplishment – closes the feedback loop in our brains and teaches us quietly which habits to remember for next time the trigger happens.  This includes the ineffective coping methods that you use and bad habits.  They will continue until you have a shift in your beliefs, values or vision for yourself in the future.

So, how can you create a new healthy and effective habit?

Answer: By having some type of immediate feedback for the brain.  The more immediately satisfying a habit is, the more likely it will be repeated in the future.  You learn which behaviors to repeat based on how they make you feel. When you take an action that feels good. 

Basically – what is rewarded gets repeated.  What is punished is avoided.

Early on, it’s all sacrifice when building a new habit, or so it may seem. You’ve packed your gym bag and set it on the front seat of the car, maybe you’ve gone to the gym a few times, but you’re not stronger or fitter or faster—at least, not in any noticeable sense. It’s only months later, once you’ve shed a few pounds or your arms gain some definition, that it becomes easier to exercise for its own sake - you see and feel the cumulative results. In the beginning, you need a short-term reason to stay on track. This is why immediate rewards are essential. They keep you excited while the delayed rewards accumulate in the background. Think about the ice cube melting that I referred to in an earlier blog post. You do not see the cube melting as the temperature rises under 32 degrees. It might be starting at zero, like you with your baby step 2-minute or less habit. Each day you put in the reps, the temperature rises, but the “cubes” do not melt, you do not see any results, yet they are building. An immediate reward can fill the gap between perceived work and the actual work. So, maybe adding a nice long shower after a workout, or a bath will make the gym experience at the end more inviting. You feel great and your brain remembers that!

What I want you to focus on or the immediate reward—is the ending of a behavior. 

The ending of an experience is what we remember.  For example: After a workout (even if it is 2 minutes) take a shower or bath, focus on the fact you completed the goal. Sit and log your activity, do stretches for a cool down, and think about the accomplishment and how you feel.  You can use any other healthy activity to reinforce the new healthy habit because the ending felt good. You feel accomplished!  Live in that moment for a bit.

It is also helpful to think about who you want to be.  What is your vision or dream?  What identity do you desire to become? Then align the activity/healthy habit with that identity (what you value or your belief).  When you complete the workout, think about how you are supporting that desired vision, to feel healthy or fit, or lose weight.  This habit is creating a lifestyle that will help you achieve your dream/vision.

Here are a few examples on how to create an external reinforcer (reward) that aligns with your desired identity/vision: 

• Walk in the woods for an effective coping strategy to handle stress (identity = freedom and control of time, value = peace, contentment, belief = I am more than my job, I am worthy, happiness/joy, my body needs solitude and activity to function at its best and handle daily stressors)

• Bubble bath/quiet time breathing or reading for completing an exercise habit (identity = being a good steward of your body, value = activity and exercise, quiet time alone, belief = I want to be a good steward of my body and take care of it)

• Every time you skip going out to dinner, transfer $50 to an account labeled “Trip to Europe” (identity = meal prep and healthy eating at home, value = food is fuel not entertainment, saving money by cooking at home, belief = travel is more important than any food eaten out)

  
  
  “External rewards are one of the best strategies we have for maintaining motivation while we’re waiting for those long-term outcomes to arrive.” – James Clear

However, there’s a crucial detail that should not be overlooked. If you’re not careful, the external reward can become the thing you end up chasing.  Going out for dinner to reward yourself for exercising sabotages the outcome you want to achieve of weight loss.  You cannot reward yourself with food if you are trying to eat healthier.

Eventually, as intrinsic (inside of you) reward like having a better mood, feeling more energy, and the ability to handle stress more effectively kick in, you’ll become less concerned with chasing the secondary reward. The identity or your ability to live your vision becomes the reinforcer. You do it because it’s who you are, and it feels good to be you. The more a habit becomes part of your life, the less you need outside encouragement to follow through.  Repetition takes over and a new habit is created.

Incentives can start a habit. Identity sustains a habit. Your values and your beliefs must support that vision and identity to sustain a habit and make it part of your lifestyle.

Chew on these thoughts:

1.      If you believe activity is vital to health, you will work at being active.  If you value health, you will do meal prep and cook healthy recipes.  It all comes back to who do you want to be, what are your values/priorities and what do you truly believe in.

2.      “That said, it takes time for the evidence to accumulate and a new identity to emerge. Immediate reinforcement helps maintain motivation in the short term while you’re waiting for the long-term rewards to arrive.” – James Clear.

Review your beliefs and values, you may need to add to those beliefs/values, so they support your future vision. If you didn’t define healthy in the beginning, maybe it’s time for a deeper dive to motivate yourself to put in the reps of your healthy habit! Explore what it really means to you and then check your values and beliefs, if they don’t support each other, take a step back and work on that before you try to create a habit that will stick.

Make the rest of your life the best of your life! Janelle