Is the reward of not being punished motivating enough? - Part 3

No, I don’t think so. This stresses us and the lack of a reward already causes us to perform poorly. So punishing yourself for not finishing
the task doesn’t improve your chances of finishing it.

Consider, what is the reward for sending out a job application if 99 times out of 100 you don’t even get a job interview. (It has happened to many skilled people). That isn’t a reward for your efforts, it is as good as punishment and once punished enough you stop doing the behaviour that brings about hurt, emotional or physical. I quit sending out job applications after 6 weeks, averaging 35 applications a week and not scored one interview. There was nothing wrong with my CV or cover letter and my qualifiactions matched the job advertised. It turned out there were no jobs in the industry and I was sending my applications to head-hunters who were building up a database to impress protential clients at some point. But today I understand why I no longer sent out job applications. Even with a powerful purpose and a desperate need for a job I had no guarantee there will be a reward for my effort but I felt servely punished for my effort.

A deadline set by an outside force is going to get us to just do it in the final hour but a self-imposed deadline often doesn’t work. So many-well meaning authors on getting things done or overcoming procastination offer the tell us to set a deadline. It doesn’t always doesn’t work for projects we’ve have devised for our personal growth or satisfaction.

I think this is where many goal setting courses fail us. They urge the student to define their goal, to define their purpose and set a deadline. Yet many of these goals are huge efforts with no signs of reward along the way. What is missing is the reward for carrying out the subparts that necessary to reach that goal.

When completing a large task they tell us to chunk it down. Completing that chunk is often a reward in itself but if it isn’t it? Delaying gratification is a battle between the emotional mind and the logical mind.