What is Success Without the Reward?

There are so many articles, videos, and blog posts out there on how to become successful, that it can make your head spin...

One day you'll get bombarded with information on goal setting. The next day it's positive thinking and repeating affirmations about what you would like to achieve and what you would like to have in life.

One day you get told how you can "earn while you sleep", and the next day you hear that you will not get anywhere without an action plan and working your butt off...

Where does this leave us? Who can we believe?

Well...how about we start with some good old common sense...?

Let's be real... Nobody has ever become successful without hard work. But there is a difference between hard work and being obsessive.

There is nothing wrong with dreaming about that nice holiday...sitting back and relaxing while watching the sunset over the ocean. Or having the house of your dreams.

No, those are actually good dreams to have. They can be great motivators. But I think it shouldn't be your main focus as a goal, though. It might be a good idea to have those dreams as rewards for achieving other goals.

Photo by David Gavi on Unsplash

That holiday...that dream house...they are not magically going to fall from the sky somehow. You will have to do something to obtain it or to enjoy it.

As John C. Maxwell says...

Dreams don't work unless you do. ~ John C. Maxwell

But the other side of the coin is also true. When you start setting goals to start your business or whatever it is you want to do, you might become so obsessive with it, that you never stop to enjoy the fruits thereof.

There might be various reasons for it. You might be so involved in too many projects at the same time, that you just cannot get the opportunity to take a break. You might now be able to buy that dream house, but you are hardly ever there to enjoy it.

Maybe you wanted more time with your loved ones, but now you are always busy working on some project that is always consuming all of your time.

Or maybe you become so obsessed with whatever it is that you are doing, that even if you do take that dream vacation, your mind is not there. In your mind, you are wondering if the wheels aren't coming off while you are relaxing. Or maybe you just keep thinking about what you should be busy doing instead of enjoying your free time.

I'm not saying that you aren't allowed to even think about anything work-related while you are on holiday... But maintain a balance. You should at least be able to have more free time, allowing you to just check in online sometimes, and then be at peace and enjoy your holiday.

The fact is...the "work part" comes before the "rewards part". And while you are enjoying your rewards, it doesn't mean that you are not earning any income.

Yes, it is indeed possible to earn while you sleep and there are many people doing it.

But when the idea of earning while you sleep is used as hype to psych you up for some scam it is taken completely out of context.

Of course, there are people who earn while they sleep. But what they don't tell you is the amount of work those people are putting in while they are awake.

Again, the work comes first. First work, then rewards...

This very platform on which you are reading this post is an example of the same principle.

Every post on this platform will earn an income for the author over the next seven days.

Now, there are some top authors here who can pump out two or more posts per day, yet it takes others maybe two days to write and publish one post. But irrespective of how many you are able to publish in one day, your post will earn income for you over the next seven days.

Also, keep in mind...you have to pay attention to producing quality content if you want to earn anything.

Many top-selling authors write books. A good book might be earning the author a very good income for many years to come. Yet, we should not forget that maybe it took that author a year or more to create that book.

Conclusion

To summarize, I think it is better to focus your goals on something (such as an activity) that will be sustainable and produce rewards on a continuous basis to be enjoyed. The rewards being the finances, the holidays, the car...or anything relevant that you would enjoy as a reward.

Photo by Praveen Thirumurugan on Unsplash

Secondly, do not become so obsessed with the goal that you never have the joy of ever enjoying the rewards it can give you.

Finally, you cannot expect a reward if you are not willing to put in some effort first.

Thank you for reading my post! I do appreciate it.