Habits require rewards. Incentives to engage in the habit, good habits.

That’s what I learned from the book “The Power of Habit.” So I didn’t make this stuff up.

Being a get-to-the-point kind of guy, I looked at the three components of a habit (cue, routine, reward) and skipped to the end.

Reward. What’s my reward? Isn’t that what’s it’s all about? I want to know what I’m going to get out of this. And yes, establishing the habit is important too. But really there was no point in moving on if I didn’t know what I was going to get.

I’m an adult (or at least technically not a child). I can pick whatever reward I want.

Obviously the reward must be within reach. I can’t be flying off to Paris every time I finish a work out.

Chocolate. That was the first thing that popped into my head.  I finish my routine. I get chocolate. It’s almost the perfect reward for me.

Why? Well, because I am almost always craving it. It’s almost always satisfying. It’s accessible and affordable.

Now the problem with chocolate is that I often use it to get energized as well: nothing like endorphins, sugar and caffeine to get you going.

But perhaps that is too much chocolate. That’s crazy talk. Done. Chocolate is officially one of my rewards.

Of course, if I eat too much chocolate it might be counter-productive to establishing the working out habit. But I would probably eat the chocolate anyway so I think I am safe.

But are there other rewards I should explore? Never hurts to have a variety. Maybe something without calories.

Well, I like going to the sauna. That would be a good reward for completing my desired habit. Though going to the sauna can take some effort and might need to be turned into a habit. Can you use one habit to reward another habit? Can you stack habits?

My whole day could be a series of stacked habits all culminating in getting the chocolate. I could get so much done.  It would have to be a lot of chocolate though.