Make a Deal

Photo by patrisyu. Published on 04 February 2014
Stock photo - Image ID: 100232877 

I made a deal with my child if I go till her Birthday without overeating, she will do something that I really want her to do and that will be good for her.  So if I overeat she does not have to do this thing.  I just made a deal with my second child along the same lines as the first.

 

We have all chosen things that will be challenging for us.  By working together this way we can support each other.  My young adult (se child) came up with this idea.  They know that something I may not do for myself I would do for their well being.  We also all get a reward if we can do this.

SO I do something that is healthy for me, then my young adults do something that is healthy for them, then we all get a reward.  I really like this idea.  Very hopeful this will work out for us.  It is simple but insidious.  If I really want them to do these healthy things, I have to do my own healthy thing.

We also set it up for approximately 21 days.  The amount of time it takes to build a new habit. It is also not too long that it seems hopeless and we give up.  Success breeds success.  DO you have a person or two you care about?  Is there something they want to do (or not do) for a time that would make their lives better?  Is there something you want to do, and they would want you to do, that would make your life better?  In this case if we all three achieve our 21 days goal we all share the reward.

I have also made another deal with 2 different people.  We all have three things that we do everyday till March, and continue doing till May.  In this case we are all doing the same things, things others may not need inspiration to do, but we do.  We all get different rewards… one persons reward starts in March and continues on through May, one person gets their reward in May, and the other goes between the two.

I am going to get back to writing these out now so we all have copies of our agreements.  This way we can recall the specifics and have our rewards in writing.  We will also be able to keep our agreements near by, to help further motivate us.