I’m well into a super busy and hopefully productive month. It’s filled with appointments, projects and new goals so I’m already looking ahead to plan how I’m going to keep my motivation levels up. I’m also a huge list person, so my agenda is the first place I go to check of the boxes that make me feel good, but that alone isn’t enough.

The best way I know to make sure I accomplish all the things I have planned is with a reward system which for me, begins with tapping into the sensation of what it feels like to be rewarded.

How do I want to feel on the other side of this goal?

What does that feel like in my body?

How can I use this feeling to get me where I want to be?

Identifying how we want to feel and tapping into the sensation in our body brings clarity to our next steps.

It makes all the difference in whether we fall into patterns of distractions, spinning our wheels, and self-doubt or whether we take aligned, intentional, and confident steps rooted in body-based clarity.

Identifying how we want to feel throughout the process and tapping into that feeling is also a beautiful part of the staying motivated. Taking time to tap into these feelings grounds us in confidence, especially when things get tough and we’re tempted to believe we can’t do hard things, or the option to give up presents itself as more appealing. This grounding pushes us forward toward our next courageous step because life is too short to not follow through. 

When we take a body-based approach instead of a mindset approach, we don’t have to wait for someone else to give us what we can give ourselves.

We don’t have to seek motivation, discipline, or intention from an outside source because we have the capacity to access this in a way that resonates authentically and deeply.

Rewarding ourselves along the way develops a sense of gratitude that fills our souls and inspires us to expand.

I’m a true believer that all parts of our journey matter and all are connected, even if we cannot see how at the time. I’m sure you’ve been able to reflect over your own life to realize the threads that connected so many of your choices in your journey with where you are now. It’s true for each of us.

The gift of gratitude ties all parts together and helps makes sense of it all.

Immersing ourselves in the sensation of this feeling helps us bring the bigger picture into focus, we see that nothing was wasted and everything mattered.

Our hearts soften, and we are able to connect the dots, especially when where we thought we’d end up isn’t where we find ourselves.

Intentionally rewarding ourselves along the way attaches value to all parts of the journey, not just the successful parts.

We learn immense lessons through the challenges, hazards and missteps. Rewards help us access the meaning we need to process and appreciate each one.

I’ve lost count of the number of things I’ve started and haven’t completed. There were times when I didn’t know how to manage my mind around what I truly wanted. The desires I thought I held fizzled because I lacked the follow through. Sometimes confusion took over and other times fear set in or I procrastinated because of overwhelm.

Can you relate?

Rewards offer a continual stream of fresh perspective.

They offer an opportunity to evaluate where we’ve been and where we’re going. Even if we’ve chosen something that wasn’t right for us, rewards value the choice to try and the choice to take a different path. Our fresh perspective reinforces the truth that nothing is wasted and everything matters. No shame. No guilt.

We simply move on. Confident. Motivated. Grateful.

So how do we go about creating a rewards system?

This is where the creative fun begins.

It helps to begin by asking ourselves a few questions.

• How do I want to feel on the other side of this goal?
• What reward will support my goal? 
  
• What reward will inspire me?
• What reward will help me appreciate my efforts?
• What reward matches my goal?
• What reward will encourage me?
• What reward will refresh my soul?
• What reward will set me up for the next step?

It also helps to categorize rewards. When the time comes, we can more easily choose the one that most aligns with where we are on our journey toward our goal. I’ve included a My Rewards Inventory to help get you started. There are enough categories to accommodate a variety of rewards.

Maybe you’ll want to start with general Large Rewards + Small Rewards until you get more comfortable with the process of filling in additional categories with more specific rewards.

Here’s a few reward ideas to get your creative juices flowing. There are so many more to fit your personal taste and lifestyle…so fun!