Keep Up Your Momentum: Reward Yourself!

When you’re deep in the middle of a writing project and your energy and enthusiasm starts to wane, keep yourself going with some extra incentives. It’s important to have a built-in reward system that will get you through the challenging times and keep your creative juices flowing. Here are two great ways to do this:

Create an Accomplishment List that tracks your successes, both large and small. Add to your list daily and especially when something good has happened or you’ve met your goal. It feels wonderful to read this list months later and see what you’ve accomplished—you’ll probably be surprised to find that you’ve done more than you thought. An accomplishment list also shows the big picture of your writing life, and that gives you a good sense of what is working for you. No matter how small your success may seem, write it down and enjoy watching the small successes turn into bigger ones.

Reward Yourself! Once you have met a goal, reward yourself for a job well done. When I raise the subject of rewards with my writing students and clients, I often get puzzled looks. It’s easier to criticize ourselves for not writing than it is to praise or reward ourselves for moving forward with our work. We hear our internal critic every time we sit down to write, but what about our internal voice of approval? That’s the voice we could stand to hear more of. Give yourself a pat on the back when you’ve achieved a new goal in your creative life and treat yourself in some small way (or big way, if your budget allows!). Try writing in your journal about how great you feel about your accomplishment; sometimes that’s enough to help you stay upbeat and productive with the difficult job of creating. And be sure to reward yourself with things that feed your soul. For me, it’s reading a book, watching a movie, enjoying a great cup of tea, buying flowers, or simply giving myself permission to spend time daydreaming and not thinking about what I should be doing.

Next time you meet a goal, write it down and then reward yourself—your creative self will thank you for it.

Keep writing!
Karen