The Importance of Rewards

“There are lots of tricks you have to keep playing on yourself to keep at your art,
   because every time you hit a problem
   you want to walk away.”
                                                   ~Janet Fish, painter

Bag of Bananas, Painting by Janet Fish

I’ve written about the importance of goals and deadlines in my life.
Just as essential, are the rewards.
So that when I want to walk away, I don’t.

I’ve been working on publicity this past week for my current show: modifying and printing my artist statement and bio, revising my inventory of art work, ordering postcards, etc. 
I’d rather be in the studio painting. 
So I make sure to reward myself for my hard work and efforts, too. 
The reward for hanging my exhibition Saturday afternoon was watching the movie The Art of the Steal with my husband and our two dogs on our comfy couch (with popcorn and dark chocolates).

Bag of Lady Apples, Painting by Janet Fish

So in addition to setting goals and deadlines for yourself, I would encourage you to decide on rewards for yourself once you meet those goals and deadlines.  Celebrate even if you happen to miss your deadline.  You still reached your goal.

That’s a step I used to overlook: to celebrate my accomplishments – because my list of goals is ever-evolving, I was eager to move onto tackling the next goal right away.   But from experience, I’ve learned to take the time to celebrate my achievements, big or small and everything in between.

What is your next reward?

Mary