Do you self-reward?

In my opinion, having some sort of gamification makes tedious tasks interesting. Some parents teach their children if they do X they’ll get Y, and that was no different in how I was raised. It happened to me during my childhood that my parents always tell me, they’d buy me something if I get perfect marks or win competitions. Was it like that with you too?

Now that I am an adult, I can’t ask myself for those rewards from my parents for everything I managed to achieve. Hence, there’s a concept of self-reward. To me, a self-reward is also a way to manage my impulsivity of buying things, curbing addiction, and introducing the idea of patience and hard work. It’s a nice way to know that sometimes we can’t get everything we want instantly.

Now, I live in heaven. By that I mean, there are more than 6 Starbucks outlets nearby and very accessible. In my past experience, I got way too addicted to it to the point that Coffee and sandwiches from Starbucks were my meal. I would chug up to 4 grande sized cups of different coffee. In the end, it didn’t go well as I found myself gaining weight. Now that I am sticking to a gym routine and having worked so hard on it, I have to limit my starbucks consumption. This is where I see coffee as a self reward.

Like yesterday, when I managed to run straight for 15 minutes without stopping and lose some inches, I visited a Starbucks outlet that opened at 7AM. It’s the earliest Starbucks in the province and was located in the business district of this province. The Starbucks was so empty, quiet and it was overall a pleasant experience. I ordered caramel macchiato and went home with a cranberry cheese sandwich.

Caramel macchiato is my go-to coffee when I want to reward myself. The calorie in a standardized caramel macchiato recipe is 250 cal. So essentially, that’s where my running went. Not to mention, the extra calories that were added from the savory sandwich. In the past, I didn’t really pay attention to this but now, I kinda have to. Otherwise, all the hard work I do in the gym would be wasteful.

You can see from the picture above, they also have different menus like cakes and various sandwiches. Also, these days Starbucks gives us a green lid cover that helps avoid the coffee from spilling. I was riding a grab that day and even with their bag paper, my coffee was secure. Now, I have to wait until I achieve some more personal goals before I can have a decent/visiting starbucks again. Honestly, it is also the same with coffee where I don’t have them as much as before. If I want to have more than 3 cups of it, I have to earn it instead of just drinking as much as I want.

That day was also my most productive day as I also got to explore the city a bit before it gets crowded. I also walked a bit more to burn extra calories and be overall active before back into my sedentary neo-hobo life.

	Mac is a jack of all trades. A typical introvert in love with literature, books, technology and philosophy. She is also so into nootropics, productivity, minimalist lifestyle, cybersecurity, and languages. Other than that, she is passionate about cooking and traveling. In her free time, she enjoys learning various things. If you like her content, don't hesitate to upvote, leave a comment or a feedback. A re-blog is also appreciated.