Gold Star Motivation: My Adult Sticker Chart for Reaching Writing Goals

I have made myself a sticker chart.

Why so? Because I want to increase my writing output to one blog post every day, and a prominent display of gold shiny stars is surely the way to keep me to my word(s).

I’ve drawn a simple chart, starting today (no time like the present), and I honestly think the fear of being left with a blank space will be the motivation I need to keep to my goal.

The chart is taped on my bedroom wall for prime visibility so that I can either revell in my blog-posting success or keep myself in line, whichever way this motivational experiment goes. I might miss lots of stars and get cross and take it down, but I hope it won’t come to that. The power of ‘visual accountability’ will see me through.

I can see why reward charts for young children get a bad reputation. Current research shows that this kind of positive reinforcement can encourage bargain-making with authority figures and develop the expectation of a reward every time something is ‘well done’ or even ‘acceptable’. Being controlled by someone else’s sticker chart doesn’t sound like much fun at all, but as a grown-up independent woman I will create and retain full control over my own stickers and use them to smash my self-set goals. 🙌

I thought about creating this sticker-based-phenomenon in my notebook, because it’s exactly the kind of thing that would make an Instagram-worthy bullet journal page. However, I decided that I need the daily reminder where I can see it and where I will be haunted by any missed gaps. A day left without a star would be very sad.

This would all be very stressful if it weren’t for the fact that I really like writing blog posts. I’m not tricking my mind into receiving reward for a horrible task; I’m literally setting a frequency goal for a habit I want to increase.

So far, it’s working. It’s 9pm and I’m writing away in my bedroom at a time when I would normally have collapsed into pillowy podcast heaven or be reading a book that someone else has written. But I started my chart including today, so I have persevered and written this post. I’ve almost stopped several times, but missing the very first day would have been unforgivable.

Good night, I'll write again tomorrow.