5 Examples of Positive Reinforcement That You Should Practice

Posted by Ben Heckler

Remember: all you need to practice positive reinforcement is to keep yourself open to it and to avoid the impulse to go against it. In order to be able to practice positive reinforcement effectively, you need to know how to implement it in your daily life.

Here are 10 examples of what you can practice in your everyday life in order to practice positive reinforcement and be more effective:

1. Think positive thoughts

Person doing thumbs up

Think about how to create positive situations for yourself. For example: what did you learn when you received a compliment?

Think of a compliment you can give yourself: you can put yourself in a situation where you can succeed and then describe how you achieved that situation. Or describe your reasons for being proud of yourself, e.g. you were able to keep up with your colleagues without compromising your best performance.

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Imagine how it will feel when you have done something positive and don’t allow negative thoughts to interrupt you.

If you can imagine such scenarios, you will soon realize how easily you can motivate yourself to do positive actions. But the key is to try to imagine positive scenarios in your head in order to create the positive reinforcement.

2. Give yourself positive feedback

Photo of a sign and eyeglasses on table

You probably know how to give compliments and how to give constructive criticism. But what about rewarding yourself for your own accomplishments?

For example: when you walk into a room and see how the room is already set up, this is positive feedback because you have done a good job.

If you were working on a difficult project, this would be a positive reinforcement because you have put in a lot of effort to solve the problem.

3. Catch yourself when you fail

Believe in Yourself

Most of us are often very quick to criticize ourselves when we do something wrong. But if you learn to catch yourself when you fail, you will see that you don’t need to punish yourself for your mistakes, but learn from them and take positive action.

For example: if you fail to follow a recipe and the food you have prepared is tasteless and horrible, you should not punish yourself by punishing yourself, you should learn from this and move on.

If your child breaks a toy while playing with it, he should learn from his mistake and keep trying.

4. Reward yourself

children, win, success

Now it’s time to think about rewards. If you know that when you accomplish something great, it is very rewarding, you will be more likely to achieve it the next time.

So for example: if you have finished your work on a project and have successfully achieved your goal, celebrate! Why not get your favorite drink and enjoy a small reward? Maybe this is your reward for achieving your goal.

If you want a bigger reward for your next goal, do not stop at finishing your first task, but try to achieve the next goal as quickly as possible.

If you are finishing an important task at work and everyone starts cheering for you, take a minute to applaud yourself. It will make you feel like you’ve done a great job and motivate you to go on and do more difficult tasks.

If there is no reward that you want to receive, you are more likely to feel that you have done a good job. So in order to reinforce yourself, ask yourself what would motivate you to continue doing a good job. For example: you have achieved your goal, but do you want to be promoted?

Think about what you are going to do with the reward you have achieved, and try to bring this reward with you.

5. Get straight to the point

Woman holding a smiley balloon

Don’t be wishy-washy, give yourself hard reasons why you are worth it!

Find concrete reasons that are positive to your self-esteem and write them down. Ask others for advice if you are stuck and get real reasons to be happy.

This does not mean you should neglect where you want to improve but you should definitely not skimp on the complements.

6. Focus on yourself

 

White printer paper

Find something that makes you happy, something that you do all the time. Start thinking about how you want to change how you do things so that you can be more successful.
Or tell yourself that you do things because it is the right thing to do and that you don’t have the time to waste. The word “should” is negative and you can use positive instead: “I am going to … because it is right for me”.

7. Create strong memories

Woman using umbrella with lights

Think back to all the positive memories you have from the past and then think about what you do now in order to make the same type of memories.
One method is to keep a journal about your daily life. At the end of every day write down what you achieved, who you talked to, what you were doing, what you ate, etc. The positive emotions will make you a more positive person and help you create more positive memories.

Conclusion

TLDR: Take care of yourself and others by really caring about them, the rest should follow

Use these simple techniques to practice positive reinforcement and get more effective at doing what you want to do.

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