Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Planning my rewards

I was reading Patrick's blog (good stuff- he's a man on a mission, and didn't leave his sense of humor at home when he set out on that mission) and he lists a planned set of rewards for reaching his goals. After little thought I determined this is a great concept.

I thought about how I chose triathlons as a way of staying motivated during training. Why just exercise, I am naturally competitive even with myself so I set a goal of triathlons for why I am exercising! With this in mind, why wouldn't I reward myself for reaching my goals? I have set benchmarks for reaching weight loss goals. It only counts if I stay three consecutive days at or below the benchmarks. I may think about rewards for my PR goals later.


219 new cycling socks. I like fun ones.

215 running socks.

210 race belt or fuel belt.

205 transition bag.

199 NY Yankee's Jersey.

195 Ryders or Oakleys with interchangeable lenses, preferably polarized.

190 Electric shooting ear protection.

186 tsali or a ski resort for a mtb trip.

180 new pistol or shooting class.

This is my tentative list and I may change it later. I tried to stick mostly to items in my price range except the new pistol. I also feel like I need another camping trip or vacation worked in their somewhere. Much like all things I do there is a strategy. The first few items are to encourage me to continue exercising/competing. I assume that by 199 lbs I will be a shirt size smaller and therefore will reward myself with my first piece of new clothing in forever and its something I have wanted for a while. The glasses will be for cycling, again encouraging me to get out. The hearing protection or "ears" as we call them on the range will be a build up for my last goal (I was going to call them something else but decided to call them "build up" to keep this PG) Tsali National Recreation Area will be a combo MTB/camping trip. TSALI is a mecca for mtb'ers and the last time I was there I was rewarding myself for defending my thesis (high pass btw). Fitting that I get to my target weight and reward myself with a trip into the woods. If at that moment in time a weekend trip is not in my budget I will take a day trip to a ski resort for downhill mtbing or snowboarding if it is winter by then. Lastly, the new pistol is something I have wanted for years and I it will be used to train to make myself a better tactical operator. I have qualified at the expert level with my agency the last 3 years in a row, but I can always get better. I doubt anyone will notice, but in my original goals I set for myself 186 lbs was my target weight, it still is but since I fluctuate by 5 pound on a regular basis getting to 180 for three days should let me fluctuate to under 186.........and there we go!

Now,I have posted them here for all to see in hopes that it will keep me motivated and my blogger buddies will keep me honest.

1 comment:

Patrick said...

Excellent list you have there. Seems like you put though into it and it is full of stuff you'd enjoy having and therefore should be a good motivator for you. I would have gone for a Cubs jersey myself but I look forward to seeing a pic of you in your new NY Yankee's Jersey; moment of silence for George...

New pistol huh, any specific desires for this one? I have a rifle on mine. Not sure I am going to get there by deer hunting season this year but get there I shall.