Why do we writers
need daily incentives to motivate us?
Because it’s imperative that we acknowledge and celebrate every accomplishment,
not just our major achievements. Life has a nasty habit of sabotaging our dreams
of becoming successful writers. Work, family, friends, and our own perfectionism,
procrastination, doubts and fears—all these and more conspire against us. So, if
we want to keep our butts in the chair, our fingers on the keyboard or pen, and
our minds focused on writing, we must somehow reinforce our writing habits. We need to embrace a system of regular rewards.
Giving ourselves a small reward for each step we take on the way to achieving our
goals will keep us on track to finish our writing projects.
But what
types of incentives will motivate us to reach our writing goals? There are several
ways to reward ourselves that don’t require a huge expenditure of time or money.
Here are some simple rewards I use to motivate myself to complete my daily
writing goals: a cup of hot chocolate or Chai tea, a walk with my husband, a
good book, a little treat that’s definitely not
healthy, a board game I enjoy playing with a family member, or a shopping trip
for something I really need. However, I admit there are those rare days when my
real reward is simply shutting down my computer and going to bed!
Why do we writers
so often fail to reward ourselves for our daily accomplishments? One reason
could be that we’re setting unrealistic goals, so we never feel deserving
enough. We may even decide to punish ourselves for not achieving our goals when
we should be celebrating every small stepping stone along the way. Rewards are
positive and create incentives to
write. But when we deprive ourselves of rewards as a form of self-punishment, this
generates negative connotations that create a disincentive to write. That’s definitely not what we need. We should never
devalue our work as writers!
Incentives
serve as catalysts for our creative output, and we deserve to reward ourselves for making our writing dreams come
true. Writing is definitely hard work and if we don’t create some little rewards for ourselves each day, eventually all that hard work will suck all the
enjoyment out of it. Incentives also make it a lot easier to stick with our
writing on those days when we “don’t feel like it,” we’re “not in the right
mood,” we “don’t feel inspired,” or we’re “feeling too tired.”
If we are so
hard on ourselves that we rarely give ourselves rewards for our daily
accomplishments, one way to counteract this tendency is to have a previously
prepared list of rewards to choose from. This makes it so much easier to be
kind to ourselves, especially on those days when we’ve jumped so many hoops and
hurdles before we’ve even sat down to write that it feels like we’ve already
lost the battle!
One
advantage we have as Christian writers is that God is our partner every step of
the way. His Word provides the encouragement and inspiration we need to find
our voice and achieve our goals. Even when God nudges us beyond our comfort
zone, we trust Him to lead us down the right path. We may often doubt ourselves, but we never doubt God. As we learn from 1 Samuel 3, God is infinitely patient
and persistent. He will continue to nudge us until we listen, understand, obey,
and ultimately succeed.
What are
some of the goals God is nudging you to achieve this year? How will you reward
yourself for what you’ve accomplished today?
Photo
Credits: Pixabay.com
Nina
Faye Morey is a Canadian
writer, editor, and speaker. She’s had fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art
published in Christian, secular, and literary journals. She’s also contributed
to two InScribe anthologies: 7 Essential
Habits of Christian Writers (2015) and Christmas:
Stories and More (2017). Nina’s served as columns editor for InScribe’s FellowScript magazine and is currently
the editor-in-chief. She finds working with fellow writers as an editor and
through InScribe workshops gratifying. When she’s not writing, she enjoys
reading, walking, travelling, and spending time with family.
