LifeTango.com Blog

A year ago, a group of co-workers and I decided we wanted to lose a little weight, so we designed an 8-week challenge. We each put $20 into the pot, and at the end of the 8 weeks, the person who had lost the most weight (as a percentage of his or her starting weight) would get half the pot, second place would get 30%, and third place would get the remaining 20%.

The level of involvement was amazing. Most of the participants stayed engaged throughout the challenge, and by the end, the 10 of us who had participated had lost a combined 150 lbs.

Our challenge illustrates what goal studies have proven: REWARDS MOTIVATE. “Researchers have . . . found that extrinsic rewards such as bonuses can increase people’s commitment,” writes Christine Brain in Advanced Psychology: Applications, Issues & Perspectives (© 2002, p. 135).

Here are some ideas on ways to reward yourself for accomplishing a goal:

1. Find a challenge that already exists that offers an award for accomplishing your goal. (For example, if you want to get in great shape, check out www.bodyforlife.com.)
2. Create a challenge. Talk with friends and family to see if others want to accomplish a goal similar to yours, or search the LifeTango community to find individuals with similar goals, then create a challenge with a prize for the winner.
3. Identify a reward for accomplishing your goal, tell a friend or family member, and then give him or her the money for the prize with a commitment that you’ll only get the money back if you accomplish your goal.
4. Identify a reward and promise yourself you’ll only get the reward if you accomplish your goal.  Even if you don’t give the money for the reward to another person, tell others about your goal and the reward you’ve promised yourself. That way, if you don’t accomplish your goal, and you told others you’d only get a new video iPod if you accomplished your goal, you won’t exactly be able to go buy that new video iPod without getting razzed by your friends.