The reward is a distraction.

It distracts us from our process and the work that we need to do.

The universe keeps providing rewards for the work that we do and the more we look at them like a wage worker looks at his wages, use it for what the family needs, save the rest and keep on working, the better we are able to do in the long run.

Doing work only for the reward makes us a hack. A professional focuses on the work and lets the rewards take care of themselves.

Here's a snippet from Steven Pressfield about rewards:

The children who were able to sit for three minutes with a marshmallow on the table in front of them without eating it were rewarded with two marshmallows when the experimenter returned.

But that’s as crazy as inbox-watching.

Krishna said we have the right to our labor, but not to the fruits of our labor. He meant that the piano is its own reward, as is the canvas, the barre, and the movieola.

Fuck the marshmallows.

- Steven Pressfield, Turning Pro