Reward: the cycle

I grew up hearing that the result of hard work is more work and I hated the idea of more work being dumped on me when I rushed through the old one to get some alone time.

I learned to say No the older I got and it helped me stay sane, but I would be a liar if I claimed my work automatically stopped increasing. I unconsciously expanded my skillsets so significantly that I could have changed career paths to another industry at any time.

The benefit of being a multimodal learner is that you are soaking up knowledge at every turn but the demerit is that each knowledge category causes you to want to explore it in depth and width; even knowledge begets more knowledge.

The problem is thus not the work and knowledge multiplication but the power of our choice. Are you choosing your work?

At the beginning of my business as a therapist, I dropped research and essay writing and improved my mastery of digital media and that expanded to freelancing for other businesses but it was wisdom to know when that began to take me away from my primary focus.

The same is true of Liza Express Wellness offering products for teenagers and creating mental wellness content; it improved us and automatically started to grow and drown out our focus.in sexual health

Growth is not simultaneously progress.

Just because there is an expansion in something does not make it the result you should chase because everything you do consistently will always produce results if you stick with it.

The Cycle of Growth

In agriculture, harvest (reward) seasons are the seed-gathering seasons; everyone consumes fruits but farmers begin to save seeds.

We do not consciously gather seeds in our endeavours so our lives are filled with mismatched, randomly planted, careless seeds.

If you were promoted to a new level, the old level has produced its harvest; promotion. However, you need to begin to sow excellence to this new level or you could get demoted or even relieved completely.

If you fail in your duties and the organization relieves you, that is not foul play — you did not sow and therefore have no harvest.

The same is true for romantic relationships — you and your partner love each other enough to make babies together; reward. If you both do not take care of them (more hard work), you are rightly termed lousy parents.

We have seen organizations crash from blowing off their profits thinking it is their reward and we have seen financial advisors tell people about a profit’s profit.

Your growth is diminishing when you stop putting in the work.

Reimagining The Reward

I wanted the result of my marketing to be more clients then I realized more clients meant more sessions but it also meant more money and ease of registration with industry associations.

Well, those associations meant more meetings, dues, research writings, potential leadership roles and mentoring positions but they also meant verification, licenses, larger directories and networks. These are rewards but they are also responsibilities.

In my opinion, rewards are wrapping sheets for newer responsibilities.

Yesterday, I was inviting you to eliminate the cheat day mindset but I must warn you that it requires you to reimagine your reward system.

For Example:

The reward of your dieting cannot be junk food but more healthy food. Say you meet your thirty-day goal, your reward should not be finishing a store-bought cake but learning a new healthier cake recipe. This means you can now eat cake more frequently while also not going off your goal.

The reward of scaling your business is not an increase in your salary but a likely creation of marketing assets that bring in profit all year round. This means working overtime for a period but it will come with its reward.

The reward of your skill is not necessarily a new portfolio and client base — it is also new knowledge (depth and width) that enhances your previous work.

Saying No & Taking Breaks

This does not mean you have to work 365 Days at a go — it means your breaks must never sabotage your progress however long that break is.

If taking on new responsibility is sabotaging your primary goals, then relinquishing that responsibility should be your focus.

When a new responsibility is added to your workload, you must always reschedule everything else so you can properly see everything in a new light — the same applies to removing a responsibility.