Discussion #6: The monetary aspect is a great motivator to do things
Ever wonder why you do your job in spite of all the difficulties but don’t exercise it despite knowing its worth?
The answer is simple. Your job gives you money. The money that is necessary to fulfil your needs and accomplish your desires.
But exercise don’t give you any money. Although it is very good for your health, it isn’t giving you any money.
So, it becomes difficult for you to exercise on regular basis. You just keep on delaying the very healthy things in your life.
If there were any monetary rewards associated with exercise, it would be easier for you to get yourself into the gym.
The lesson is that the monetary aspect is a great motivator to do things. Attach the monetary aspect to the things and see how they are done.
Struggling with exercise? Give yourself some reward in monetary form for exercising.
Struggling with reading or writing? Tell your brain about the money you will get to enjoy after doing the required activity for a complete hour.
Our minds work on the reward. We do our jobs because we are rewarded for them, and that too is in monetary form. That’s very shiny.
We do many other things where we are rewarded in different forms. Our mind needs a reward, or we can say appreciation.
Whenever we try to do any activity that is good for us without any reward for it, it becomes very difficult for us to perform that activity.
For example, studying is hard because there isn’t any reward associated with it, or if there is, it is so far from us that our motivation fades in the process.
Reading is difficult. Writing is hard. Exercising is out of the list. Just because there aren’t any immediate rewards.
Usually, our goals are very far from us. The ultimate outcome of the goals does motivate us to some extent, but it is insufficient to motivate us for long.
We need small chunks of motivation in the process. And what’s greater than the motivation in the monetary form.
I was struggling with writing on a regular basis. I tried different techniques for writing regularly.
Once, I added monetary rewards to my writing. For every single minute of writing, I was to be rewarded with 10 rupees.
The results were phenomenal. For the first time, I was able to write regularly.
I write it out for the entire month on a daily basis. My average writing time for the month was just above 10 minutes per day.
I give myself more than 3000 rupees to enjoy. I bought new headphones and used some money to eat my favorite foods.
Although the rewarded money was also from my savings, specifically rewarding myself with money for writing made it easy for me to write.
I learned that rewards make easier for us to do things. We are humans, and we work on the feedback and rewards given to us. And what’s a more powerful reward than money?
Important ToDo’s
- Identify the activities you are struggling to perform.
- Attach a monetary reward with them or add a reward that drives you.
- Track your work and reward yourself at the end of the defined period.
