In MoneyLove 3.0, in Book 10, Laughing All the Way, Tony Busse, creator of www.GoModeTracker.com says:
After accomplishing a certain task or milestone, which is usually a pleasant experience to start with, I will still give myself a little reward.
This is a practice many successful entrepreneurs use to expand awareness of the joys of success, and remind themselves of their ongoing triumphs and accomplishments.
In my own life, I have taken this a step further. Whenever something does not meet the mark, or doesn’t go the way I want it to, or disappoints, frustrates, upsets me in any way, I have a repertoire of Comfort Prizes I give myself to feel better fast. Because I know my purpose in doing this is to remind myself that most of my life things have turned out great, and every setback is usually followed by a surge forward, my Comfort Prizes remind me of this positive trend in my life, and that someone, me, cares enough to sooth my temporary wounds.
My Comfort Prizes might involve a certain comfort food I always keep stocked in my kitchen as it always makes me feel good (great dark chocolate, Stouffer’s Stuffed Pepper, cream cheese and bagels), or a favorite TV show I have been saving for just such an occasion (currently an unseen Poirot mystery), or even an unread book by a favorite author.
Sometimes my rewards and comfort prizes cross over. A friend once asked, “Isn’t this sort of cheating, where you get the prize whether you succeed in your project or not?” I responded by saying we are living in a world where achievement and accomplishment and triumph are rewarded, but anything less is not. My strategies are an attempt to redress that imbalance, and give a different meaning to the term, Win-Win. I am personally always aware of the difference between the rewards I give myself and the Comfort Prizes I hand out to myself when things don’t go quite as well. It works for me.
Can you think of a good reward to give yourself when you have your next success? And can you think of a Comfort Prize you can give yourself if everything doesn’t go as planned? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
