Daily Positive Thought #5

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You've worked hard. Reward yourself.

In a regular job you go to work, clock your hours, and get paid. Within a couple of weeks you get monetary reward for your hard work. Not so for writers. We write and write and rewrite and submit, and even after something is accepted for publication it can take months before we ever see the first advance check. Delayed gratification is the name of the game. So, as writers we need to keep ourselves motivated. I've found that if I reward myself for little goals along the way, I do a better job of waiting for the big checks later on.

After a good day's work, give yourself a pat on the back. After achieving a writing goal, reward yourself by going out with friends. Or hey, try one of my favorite rewards, Chocolate! Of course I'm on a diet now, so I've relegated that to sugar free hot chocolate. But the effect is the same. I reward myself for doing a good job. You can to. It feels great and helps us to keep going.