Tip #7: Create a Reward System for Yourself

An excellent waking-up technique that works very well not only for waking up, but also whenever you want to do something you don’t like or keep procrastinating on, is promising yourself a reward. This tip can often be seen in various self-improvement materials, and it really does wonders.

Let’s say you want to buy that new iPhone. Tell yourself that you will buy it only after you manage to wake up at 6 am for two weeks straight. If you miss a day, you have to start over. Once you keep the promise, you can get the reward—not just because you can, but because you deserve it. You use these simple incentives to help you stay focused on the goal you want to achieve. It’s the same trick parents use when they tell their kids they will buy them ice cream after they clean their room.

What’s more important is that this trick helps you build a habit. Once you master this habit, you will not need other rewards to continue practicing it. But above everything else, a stronger character is the primary reward you will get. Keeping your word and sticking to your promises is an extremely important skill you want to acquire, and the earlier, the better.