You are given a task: Do, and record yourself doing, 20 sit-ups, 50 push-ups, and 100 jumping jacks every day for 90 days to win an all-expenses-paid 1 week luxury trip for two to Paris. While there you will attend a fitness conference as the Guest of Honor, and have 5-6 days to enjoy the sights, sounds, and savoriness of Paris. Overall, it's not a huge ask and has some benefits all by itself so you setup a camera spot and proceed to do your exercises. By day 7 you can feel a difference in your body and enjoy the benefits. By day 12 you start to see a difference. By day 16 you're starting to get tired of this routine and would rather not...but there's a trip to Paris on the line and you've already told your spouse/partner/friend about the trip...they're excited. So you keep doing it. On day 27, you catch a cold and the last thing you feel like doing is exercising. At day 42, you're going out of town and have to bring your setup with you, or else lose all your progress. The benefits are showing and you're getting compliments about how you're looking. You feel better for having stayed on your plan, but some days it just feels like a chore. You're having a bad hair day, exercise. You're out of clean laundry, wash then exercise. You didn't sleep well, drink coffee and exercise. It's not day 85 and you not only feel better physically, you feel better personally because you committed to this and you've almost completed it. You spouse/partner/friend can't stop talking about all the things you're going to do in Paris. It's on your social media feeds because you keep looking up things to do, places to visit, where to eat in Paris. The excitement is palatable and you're only getting closer and closer. Day 90 comes and you've uploaded your last video of you completing your exercise. You submit your record and get a big congratulations call from the organization that set the challenge. You're told that your travel arrangements will be made shortly and you'll receive them via email in 1-2 business days. You've saved your PTO. You've checked your passport. You've even bought some new clothes for the trip. When you finally receive that email, you look at the reservation and see a flight to Dallas. Now that seems weird because Dallas is an International airport, but you'd expect a trans-Atlantic flight to be closer to the Atlantic coast. Maybe they're just setting up the first leg of the trip and the trans-Atlantic flight will follow soon...trust the process. One day later you receive a limousine reservation...from DFW Airport and it doesn't say where to. That's odd, but maybe the flight to Paris is on a private jet and they just need to get you to the private airport. The next day you receive a reservation for a VIP package at the Hilton Paris. Now that sounds more like it, but you notice something odd...this image of the Eiffel Tower seems to have something on top...is that a hat? As you look closer at the reservation you now realize that the hotel is in Paris, TEXAS! This must be a bad joke. All that you did...all that you pushed through...all that you anticipated...all that you bragged about...was for a trip to Texas? I mean yeah, you're looking and feeling better than you have in years...but you were supposed to be headed to France! You were supposed to experience real French Toast, not Texas Toast! This isn't close to what you expected...and your spouse/partner/friend...how will he/she/they take this news? Not only is this less of a trip but you may be going by yourself with a very disappointed loved one. Deciding that your effort deserves a payout, whether or not it's the one you anticipated, you let your spouse/partner/friend know. They're disappointed and angry because they saved PTO, bought clothes, renewed their passport, etc. too. Not thrilled with the idea and more than a little upset at you, they decide they're not going. You go anyway. When you arrive at DFW airport you see a limousine driver holding a placard with your name on it. They seem surprised because they expected two people, but it's just you. You make up an excuse why you're alone and go along with the driver after picking up your bags. The ride isn't long before you pull up to the International terminal. Valets take your bags and you are given a "have a wonderful trip" greeting. Confused, you ask what is going on? The valet informs you that everything is prepared for your trip to Paris including the first-class seats, the private Customs appointment, the limousine to the Prince de Galles hotel, and advanced check-in to the Presidential Suite. You're completely confused but suddenly glad that you brought your passport as ID. "Wait, is the all-expense-paid luxury trip to Paris...France...for real?", you ask. "It's absolutely real and you've about that have that experience", they answer. Takeaways: 1) Incentives, whether real or imagined, can get us to do things we'd never ordinarily do. 2) Completing any goal is going to require perseverance, discomfort, and some trade-offs. 3) The payoff often doesn't appear how we thought it would, at first 4) Those who are with you for the final destination, may not stay on-board for the interim victories 5) Quite often the small victories turn into bigger ones faster than you might think. 6) If they can't handle your small victories, they don't deserve your large victories