Make What You Love a Treat, Not a Habit, to Keep Them As a Healthy Incentive.
Every year on Halloween, parents allow their kids to eat whole truckloads of candy. If they like it, why not do it every day? Because it would ruin their health and spoil the experience. The same principle applies to us adults.
As the personal finance site Physician On FIRE explains, the psychological reward for what we use to heal ourselves can begin to diminish the more we do it. If you have a piece of cake every day, you won’t feel special if you eat it on your birthday. Eating out every day will feel like a routine you miss when you stop, rather than a pleasant night out. To keep your incentives properly calibrated, leave what you really like for special treats:
If you want a special experience to remain special, you better not make it a habit. If you let it become a routine, you will transform what was once real pleasure into something ordinary.
Enjoy a great dinner? Make it a pleasure.
Do you like fine wine, whiskey or ale? Make it a pleasure.
Upgrade to Business Class? Make it a pleasure.
What are you doing that makes her feel special (like a random Tuesday rose, a surprise date, or washing the dishes)? Make it a pleasure.
Not only does it help to preserve a special experience, but it also gives you the ability to reward your brain when you need it. Why would you be chasing a special reward when you receive it every day? By keeping special experiences as pleasure, you can motivate yourself. “If I do enough work this week, I can go to that good restaurant,” for example. Your brain works on rewards. Better to save these rewards for habits worth motivating.
Make fun | Doctor on Fire via Rockstar Finance