“Celebrate your small wins, only you know how far you have come”
Why is it that we celebrate small experiences when we are young, but as we age, we forget to take a moment to sit back and celebrate our small accomplishments?
Think of a baby taking its first steps. They get filmed, it’s posted on all social media platforms, texts are sent to every phone number in your contact list, and everyone at your job (and maybe even the grocery store) know that your little love took their first steps.
We encourage children to celebrate their small wins. Maybe they didn’t win the soccer game, but you celebrate the goal they did get. So then, why as adults do we forget to pause, take a breath, and pat ourselves on our back for our small wins?
Have you ever noticed how the minute you accomplish one thing, your mind is already looking ahead for the next thing to do, how you could have done better, or comparing what you just accomplished to what someone else has done?
We live in a society where constantly looking ahead is expected. You’re told to look ahead, push forward to your next goal, the next thing on your list, or your next win.
I’m as guilty of this as the next person. But I’m getting better, and the awesomeness I feel when I do take that moment to celebrate a small win always puts a smile on my face.
Celebrating your small wins increases:
- Motivation
- Confidence
- Positive Emotions
- Momentum
And it’s backed by science! Every time you celebrate a small win, your body releases dopamine, a feel-good hormone that makes you happy and boosts your energy!
8 ways to celebrate those small wins, successes or accomplishments:
- YOU ROCK: Say it out loud! Tell yourself how amazing you are. Have a personal mantra you tell yourself when you have a small win.
- GET OUT YOUR PHONE: Send a text message to a friend and tell someone (or several people) about your awesome accomplishment. We should all brag about ourselves a little more!
- DON’T GO IN: Take a personal day from work and relax, sleep in, go on a hike, day drink, do whatever makes you happy when you play hooky, have a self-care day and do something you love.
- GIMME: Buy yourself something. It doesn’t have to be crazy expensive or elaborate. If you usually drink your coffee at home, treat yourself to a nice cappuccino at a local coffee shop!
- YUM: Go out to dinner or cook a fun dinner and invite a friend or two over—let them bask in your accomplishment with you.
- BOOGIE: Turn the music up and dance! I started doing this after I finish writing a blog. I have music on most of the time so after I hit save, I stand up, stretch a little and then wiggle a bit to the music!
- HIGH FIVE: Even Peloton knows that high-fives release endorphins. Their buddy high-five platform is designed to get people excited! Those likes you get on Facebook produce a similar response. However, if there is a person close to you—get that hand out. High-fives are also amazing to give so if someone tells you about their small win, stick out those digits!
- CELEBRATE LOSSES TOO: Ok this might sound odd, but hear me out. I read a statistic that said it takes actors anywhere from 100-250 auditions to get a part. So, for those actors that don’t get defeated and keep going, that “loss” of the role they didn’t get, get’s them one step closer to the role they get! So why not celebrate!
With the end of the year upon us, instead of looking at the things you DIDN’T accomplish this year, look at the things you DID accomplish and celebrate those wins. When we acknowledge and celebrate the wins and our progress, the more momentum we create to keep moving forward.
Remember, You Got This!
XOXO
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Hi!
Wow, reading this made me feel so much better about myself. I’m a person who stresses out over everything and getting the smallest tasks done takes a lot of effort, mentally. I’ve never celebrated my small accomplishments either. So this is really gonna make a difference for me! Thank you so much:)
I think we all struggle with celebrating ourselves. Thank you so much for your comment! 🙂