Reward yourself for a job well done! With each step you take toward your goal, make time to give yourself a pat on the back and an “atta girl!” Your inner motivation to succeed is a powerful success tool.

Emotional rewards should be things you’ll look forward to doing and that make you smile, inside and out. Plan little day-to-day rewards for short-term successes. For longer-term goal achievement, make the reward enticing, motivating and well worth the work of making your dream a reality.

Do you know why it is so important to make success fun? It’s because your subconscious mind works to keep you safe from discomfort. If you are making success a struggle, your mind begins to wonder why you’re working so hard to achieve and/or acquire something you seem to dislike. Sooner or later, you’ll begin to sabotage your goals.

Here is a success secret: It’s when success isn’t fun that self-sabotage begins controlling the ability to achieve your goals. Success should be exciting and filled with the promise of enjoying the emotional rewards of a job well done. Enjoying success means knowing how to appreciate and delight in the emotional, spiritual and physical rewards of your well-earned accomplishments.

Ideas for celebrating the day-to-day victories:

1. On 20-30 small pieces of paper write motivational rewards that you’ll look forward to enjoying at the end of a productive day. Fold up each piece of paper and place them in a decorative basket or box. At the end of a day that’s taken you one step closer to your goals, pull out a random piece of paper and enjoy the reward.

Examples: Read your new Nora Roberts novel, take a long relaxing bubble bath, enjoy a bowl of ice cream, give yourself a manicure, listen to your iPod uninterrupted for 30 minutes, go for a long walk, sit for twenty minutes with your eyes closed and listen to the birds sing, play a video game with the family, watch a movie, etc.

2. Begin a success journal. At the end of the day list all of your successes. Remember to include how proud you are of what you’ve been able to accomplish.

3. Make or buy yourself a calendar that has writing room for each day of the month. At the end of the day write your accomplishments for that date on the calendar. By keeping track of your finished to-dos, you’ll be surprised at just how much you’re actually accomplishing each day. This simple activity can provide a powerful sense of accomplishment.


Ideas for celebrating major accomplishments:
1. Take that dream vacation you’ve been looking at on your vision board all these months/years. Celebrate, have fun and bask in the glory of your success!

2. Have a big party to celebrate and have fun with those people who supported your dreams and goals over all these months and years. It’s always fun and emotionally rewarding to celebrate with those special people who matter most.

3. Spend an entire day (or two) doing whatever you feel like doing - it’s your day and it’s your celebration!

I’ll share a personal “aha.” As I’m writing this article, a little voice in my head, who sounds exactly like my father, is saying to me, “Life isn’t about having fun, it’s about working hard for what you want.” What do you think; do I have sometimes make success a struggle? Here’s my newest affirmation, “I enjoy succeeding and making even my smallest successes a joyful celebration.”

How about you? Do you make your successes a joyful celebration? Here is to making success fun!

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