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Do you reward yourself? When was the last time you did it?

Earlier in my life, I used to underestimate the importance of rewards. I used to think rewards are ways to recognize the best and encourage them to perform better next time.

We do the hard and smart work to achieve an external reward directly or indirectly. The award may be to get good marks in the immediate test, good performance in office work, or completing a project and receive external appreciation.

Later I figured out that this benefit of rewarding can be applied on a personal level even if you are not the best person of the herd, in order to achieve your personal milestones. You can keep yourself motivated on a daily and long-term basis.

Let's understand this from the viewpoint of Ali Abdaal - We wait for the motivation to strike first and then start the work. But it's a myth. This way very few tasks are started and out of them, very few are accomplished.

James Clear in his book Atomic Habits also said that we should be able to see or visualize some immediate small success on the very first action that actually fills up for striking the motivation to accomplish the rest of the part. That part is known as a cue of motivation that triggers to complete the work.

So next time when you repeat it, you know you are going to receive the same reward. Hence it becomes satisfying. They form an endless cycle that is running every moment you are alive.

Hence, if the result takes time to come on your action, you substitute the same by rewarding yourself. The cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue.