Celebrate Your Wins

Celebrate your wins every day, especially the small ones.  Get up with the alarm - done!  Teeth brushed - done!  Dog walked - done!  Don’t stop there. Do what you need to do, especially in the morning, to ensure that you are clear-headed and ready to have a great day. You can keep a journal or a log to celebrate and track your wins. You can also set reminders on your phone or watch. Whatever method you choose, make sure it's something that works for you and helps you stay motivated to be consistent and accountable.

Recognizing and celebrating small wins will motivate you, improve your mood, and make you happy. It's a way to acknowledge that you're making progress. Based on The Progress Principle research by Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, making progress fuels our motivation and improves our mood.  When the people involved in their study had small wins, they “were in a more upbeat mood in general but also expressed more joy, warmth, and pride. When they suffered setbacks, they experienced more frustration, fear, and sadness.  (“The Power of Small Wins,” by Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, The Harvard Business Review, May 2011)  Celebrating small wins is a win-win proposition. It keeps you motivated and you feel happier.  

When you reward yourself for accomplishing smaller tasks, it can make the process more enjoyable and less daunting. This can encourage consistency and help develop positive habits over time.  I recently created a “Done” list.  Most of us keep To do lists, but by keeping track of everything that I did, I can see how much I have accomplished.  I can look at my list and say “I did all that!”

Small wins help create momentum. When you achieve one small win, it can often lead to another, and then another. This snowball effect can drive you forward toward your bigger goals.  I challenged myself recently to do something out of my comfort zone at least once a day for 30 days.  I did not listen to my negative self talk.  And I did stuff that I had transferred from one to do list to another - at least one of them for years!!!!  At the end of each day, I was so glad I did each thing.  Whenever I feel challenged in my business, I think of those days and I remember how great I felt when I got something done.  It really improved my confidence.  Now it’s your turn.