The Rewards of Failure

Today we're exploring the idea of rewards, as described by author Gretchen Rubin, and asking whether it can be applied to The Good Fail?

CAN WE CLARIFY WHY WE’LL BE TALKING ABOUT REWARDS IN THIS EPISODE?

We read a book: Better Then Before by Gretchen Rubin. The way she talked about rewarding good behaviour clearly related to doing The Good Fail in our eyes.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU’RE GOING ON ABOUT HERE?

We think a lot of people view success as a reward for hard work…we know we do! Even as we explore ways of accepting failure, we still feel like the reward for all that good failing will be success.

QUOTE (from Better Then Before by Gretchen Rubin)

“…I eventually concluded, rewards can actually be dangerous for habit formation…First, a reward teaches me that I wouldn’t do a particular activity for it’s own sake, but only to earn that reward; therefore, I learn to associate that activity with an imposition, a deprivation, or suffering.”

This clearly relates to how we view failure and success.

WHERE DOES THIS VIEW COME FROM?

Many aspects of our culture have rammed this idea home in the form of books, films and TV shows. Even the legacy of our ancestors may have had an impact.

HOW CAN WE SWITCH OUR MINDSET ON THIS?

QUOTE (from Better Then Before by Gretchen Rubin)

“We are extrinsically motivated when we do an activity to get an external reward (a carrot) or to avoid an external punishment (a stick); we’re intrinsically motivated when we pursue an activity for its own sake. Drawing on intrinsic motivation makes us far more likely to stick to a behaviour, and find it satisfying.”

We need to see failure as worth experiencing and not as a means to the ultimate reward of success.

WHAT CAN WE CONCLUDE FROM ALL THIS?

By practicing the Good Fail we can find reward enough in the process.

WHAT’S OUR RECOMMENDATION FOR THIS WEEK?

Better then Before by Gretchen Rubin

A book that helps find out how to work with your own strengths when forming new habits as well as showing us how to do The Good Fail better.

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