I’m struck at how often American culture needs scientific evidence to prove common sense, in this case: intrinsic rewards work better than extrinsic rewards. W

I’m struck at how often American culture needs scientific evidence to prove common sense, in this case: intrinsic rewards work better than extrinsic rewards. What I’ve done with my kids, and my teams, is to point out (or lead them to point out themselves) how doing a chore made them feel: before and after. Chores feel painful before doing them. Completed chores — or more precisely the new state of the world post-chore — feels great. Both children and adults have problems enduring short-term pain for delayed rewards. This isn’t a novel concept. What would be novel is an understanding of how to rewire a brain that still assumes we only need to think about the present moment and that the uncertain future will take care of itself. Ironically, the best way to take action for the long-term seems to involve taking care of the present first. Once everything that needs to be done now is complete, and our lives and environment are stable and ordered, it seems that our restless minds have only one recourse: to work on tomorrow.