# Should you reward yourself for sticking to a habit? Canonical: https://zestasy.com/wiki/rewarding-yourself/ Section: Zestasy Wiki > Mindset · Updated: 2026-10-13 · Publisher: Zestasy *Zestasy Wiki: our reference answers. Checked for facts and sources; less curated than the magazine.* Yes, but the best rewards are immediate and built into the habit itself rather than saved for later. Research on persistence suggests that enjoying an activity in the moment predicts sticking with it better than long-term benefits do. So make the run, the practice or the cooking pleasant while it's happening, and treat bigger rewards as celebrations rather than payment. The classic advice goes like this: go to the gym ten times, buy yourself the trainers. Write every day for a month, have the weekend away. It sounds sensible. Often it works for about a fortnight, and then the trainers are bought and the gym is quiet again. Rewards can help a habit. It depends a lot on which kind. ## Immediate beats delayed Researchers Kaitlin Woolley and Ayelet Fishbach looked at what keeps people going with long-term goals. As Chicago Booth Review reports, in one of their studies [gym-goers who enjoyed their workout spent more time on the cardio machines](https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/2016/july/achieve-long-term-goals-focus-short-term), and enjoyment predicted persistence better than the long-term reasons people gave for exercising. Their suggestion: keep the long-term goal as your reason for starting, but add rewards to the activity itself, such as music while you exercise. That fits ordinary experience. A reward three weeks away is abstract. A reward right now, inside the thing you're doing, changes how today's session feels. ## Rewards built into the habit The most effective rewards are often not rewards at all, just ways of making the activity nicer: - **Running:** a favourite route, a podcast saved only for runs, a coffee at the end of the loop. - **Swimming:** the outdoor pool on sunny days, a friend in the next lane, a pastry afterwards. - **Language practice:** a series you only watch in Italian, a weekly conversation over aperitivo. - **Cooking at home:** good music, a glass of something, the radio, a new knife you enjoy using. - **Tidying or admin:** a candle, a playlist, a timer, a phone call to a friend. These pair the habit with something pleasant until the habit itself starts to feel pleasant. ## When rewards distract Rewards can backfire in a few predictable ways. - **They undo the point.** If the habit is about spending less time on your phone, rewarding a good week with a night of scrolling until one o'clock works against it. - **They make the activity feel like work.** If you only ever do something "to get the treat", the activity can start to feel like a job you're paid for rather than something you like. We talk about this in [intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation](https://zestasy.com/wiki/intrinsic-vs-extrinsic-motivation/). - **They become a bargain.** "I ran, so I deserve the whole cake" turns the habit into a transaction. Food is a pleasure on its own terms; it doesn't need to be earned. - **They're too far away.** A big reward after three months tends to be forgotten long before you get there. ## Choosing good rewards A few rules of thumb for picking rewards that help: - **Small and soon.** Something you get today or this week, not next season. - **Related to the habit.** New running socks after a month of runs, a good cookbook after a month of home dinners. - **Shareable.** A celebratory dinner with the friend who joined you, a day trip with the family who kept quiet while you practised the guitar. - **Never a punishment in disguise.** No rewards that come with conditions you then feel bad about. ## Celebrations, not payments Think of bigger rewards as marking a moment rather than buying behaviour. Finishing a first 10K, cooking your way through a book, a year of Spanish lessons: those deserve a proper celebration. We have ideas for marking the smaller ones in [celebrating small wins](https://zestasy.com/mindset/celebrating-small-wins/). ## FAQ ### Is it bad to use food as a reward? Not in itself, a coffee and a cornetto after a Sunday run is one of life's good things. Problems start when food becomes a bargain or a debt. Enjoy it for its own sake. ### What if I don't enjoy the habit at all? Look for a version you could enjoy: a different sport, a different time, company instead of solo. If nothing makes it pleasant, it might not be the right habit for you. ### Should I stop rewards once the habit is established? There's no need to stop the built-in pleasures; they're part of what keeps it going. Bigger milestone rewards can become occasional celebrations. ### Can a habit be its own reward? Often, eventually. The feeling after a swim or a good meal you made yourself becomes the reason to do it again. ## Sources - [Chicago Booth Review: To achieve long-term goals, focus on the short term](https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/2016/july/achieve-long-term-goals-focus-short-term) ## Related - [How do you celebrate small wins without it feeling cheesy?](https://zestasy.com/mindset/celebrating-small-wins/) - [What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/intrinsic-vs-extrinsic-motivation/) - [How do you keep a hobby just for fun?](https://zestasy.com/mindset/keeping-a-hobby-just-for-fun/) - [How do you stay consistent when motivation runs out?](https://zestasy.com/mindset/staying-consistent-without-motivation/) - [How long does it really take to form a habit?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/how-long-to-form-a-habit/) - [All Mindset answers in the Wiki](https://zestasy.com/wiki/#mindset)