This happens in our workplaces and sounds obvious - We hit the goal and we get 100% of the promised bonus, we go ‘above and beyond’, we get 120% of the promised bonus. But we don’t incentivize ourselves for achieving personal goals. For example, if you plan to run a marathon this year, you should incentivize it with a reward (If I finish that race, I can get something for myself worth Rs. 25,000 , maybe a Garmin watch).
Another example, that I personally followed a decade back. My goal was to save Rs. 3,00,000, so I set a reward for going ‘above and beyond’: whatever X amount I save more than Rs. 3,00,000, I could splurge half of that. I ended up saving 3,30,000, and I got 15,000 to spend on my WANTS(guilt-free).
You might have two questions:
You ask ‘If I saved more than 3,00,000, isn’t that a reward in itself, now I have 3,30,000’. Not exactly, because you have sacrificed more to save more, you will feel miserable, and ask yourself ‘What is the point of living like this, saving every penny and not able to enjoy life?!’. That is why incentivizing yourself for saving more than your goal will let you happily save more, because you are going to get part of that extra savings.
You as ‘If I saved 3,30,000, why can’t I just keep the 30,000 for my “wants”, instead of 15,000’. Because more savings the better. When you only take part of it, you are finding that sweet spot, where you get to spend some money guilt-free and you also have saved more for the rainy day.
Try adding rewards to your goals and you will put in that extra effort to achieve your goals. You might even go above and beyond, if you incentivize rightly.