Goals and rewards

They've never worked for me in the past. For two reasons, first because usually the only rewards I can think of are food oriented. Like try a restaurant I've been eyeing or indulging in a treat day... which is horrible itself because that causes me to over-do it. The other reason rewards don't work for me is because, well, I am an impatient bastard. I think of something non food related and I can't wait. Once that thought is in my mind I can't think of much else until gratification.

So as I've been mulling over goals, rewards, binging, staying on plan, exercise, etc., it occurs to me that my overall problem, the thing that relates to all these topics is my need for instant gratification. I tend to not reach my weight loss goals because it doesn't happen fast enough. And of course binging / going off plan is the epitome of instant gratification. Therefore I think it's time to make some short term goals and rewards that are do-able and good practise in delayed gratification. They are:

1. Well, I don't have a reward for my first goal, but I'm already striving for it so it remains Goal #1 - to reach 10 hours of exercise by Labor Day.
2. To shed 5 pounds by Sept 25th. I've been thinking about getting my eyebrow pierced. If I reach this goal an eyebrow piercing will be a gift I give myself for my birthday in October.
3. To lose another 5 pounds (10 pounds total) by my birthday, October 25th. I desire (oh gosh this is personal to be typing!) a Brazilian wax.
4. My last short-to-mid-term goal is to go through my Wii Active 30 Day Challenge TWICE! Now I'm doing the medium setting and next I'll do the hard setting. This will put me into November which is perfect for my next reward - my sister-in-law will have completed P90X and ready to pass it on to me. I've been eyeing P90X for a very long time. If I can accomplish Goals 1-4 I think I'll be ready to start P90X without dying.

These goals seem great to me, and very attainable. They take me through the autumn and when I've completed them I'll be ready to set some great new goals and rewards for the Holiday season. For the first time I'm actually excited about having short term goals instead of just focusing on the huge picture.