Often the payoff is months later. The steps above emphasize this point. Sometimes a person feels that extraneous rewards should not be given for desirable behavior because they aren't deserved. Such a viewpoint is understandable but unrealistic. That seldom seems to occur.
People realize why they are delaying their own self-reinforcement.
Both these limitations make sense as long as people are performing the behavior strictly for a reward decided on and given by someone else. We can always monitor and reward our own behavior, even if we move into different circumstances. Much about self-reward is still unclear, however. But the payoffs are not consciously planned either. When we are all more aware of our reasons and pay offs, the world will be better off.