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The word for today is incentive. Okay, put yourself in this scenario and think about your options. Your job is to oversee chores at a place where eight teen boys are temporarily away from their family, most of the time as a consequence for their poor behavior. You start your shift at 7AM and have until 2PM to get the guys to complete basic household chores, such as sweeping and mopping common rooms and cleaning their suite’s bathroom. Don’t forget to factor two meals into those seven hours and the fact that none of these guys care about cleaning their space. How do you make sure chores are completed? At first, I tried to plan fun outings in the afternoon and only allow the guys that finished their chores to attend. This worked fairly well, but what do you do with kids that don’t succeed? They have to stay home with one of only two on-duty staff members. I actually had to work on my own many times, so I was forced to improvise. How could I get all eight guys to complete their chores without me nagging or trying to force them? I used $15 of my own dollars each week to buy one $10 and one $5 gift card that I would award the top two cleaners. This small investment leveraged the power of incentive on a few different levels. First, the guys had to outwork the others, which meant cleaner areas than ever before. Second, my role changed from enforcer to benefactor, which was 100% better. Last, and maybe most importantly, the guys went home with the power and pride of being able to buy treats for themselves and others. These were kids who often came from little means, so the gift cards were truly motivating for most of them. You might handle the situation differently, but I believe incentives made my task possible, given the constraints.

Today’s concrete challenge is to write down one difficult task of yours or one that you oversee. Pair it with an incentive that could motivate those involved. I’ve jokingly told my wife that we should look up the cost of hiring a professional for home projects, halve that number, and let ourselves spend that amount as a reward for completing the project ourselves. My wife still isn’t sold on the idea, but maybe that’s why we have lingering home projects that are mostly, but not fully, finished.

If you want to commit, say the following phrase: “I will pair one incentive with one hard task.”

I’ll keep the music playing while you get it done, and don’t miss the soundtrack at the end of this episode.

Before you go, repeat the following soundtrack, “I am the kind of person who gets creative.”

Let me know if this made a difference in your day by leaving a comment in your podcast app or at concrete.win/today.

Check back tomorrow for a new challenge. Until then.

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