Keep the order: work leads, pleasure follows

The reward isn't the enemy. The bonus is good. The standing ovation at the recital feels great. The packed dining room, the sold-out market stall, the patient who walks out healed and grateful — enjoy all of it. The trouble starts only when the good feeling stops following the work and starts leading it: when a stylist books the flashy clients and skips the steady regulars, when a foreman chases the project that'll look impressive over the one that's needed, when the pleasure of being praised quietly takes the wheel.

Seneca caught the reversal exactly. "How is virtue to rule pleasure if she follows it, seeing that to follow is the duty of a subordinate, to rule that of a commander?" (Of a Happy Life XI, Stewart). Pleasure makes a fine attendant and a terrible boss. Let it walk behind the work as a reward, and it serves you. Let it walk in front and pick the jobs, and you'll do worse work for a smaller, louder thrill.

The week's move, held steady: keep the order. Do the right work first; let the good feeling come after, as company, not commander.

A reward earned is a guest. A reward in charge is a tyrant.