Why You Should Celebrate Your Wins – May 6, 2019

Last month I wrote about The Powerful Lessons of Getting Lost and why it can be a good thing to spend some time wandering. After putting my own advice into action, I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel – a light that had been eluding me for some time.

While wandering, I tapped into my spiritual connection through journaling, meditation, and nature; looked for signs (they are EVERYWHERE!), and asked for directions (e.g., I asked several people to help me!). One of the people I reached out to is someone I’d never even met before. A colleague connected us initially, but I ignored all the signs telling me to contact her. Eventually, I listened to my intuition and sent her a one sentence email. 

After a brief discussion, she offered some keen insights into my business. She saw what I had been searching for and pointed out that it had been right in front of me all along. THIS was something to celebrate! Allowing myself to get lost and feel muddled had led me to a new level of clarity.

Take The Time to Celebrate Your Wins

Over the next couple of days, several more reasons to celebrate showed up in coaching sessions with my clients. One received two outstanding job offers after a long search. Another client got a much sought-after promotion. A third received some excellent feedback from a peer on something that she had been working hard to improve.

In each of these coaching sessions, we took time to savor the moment. We acknowledged who my client was becoming and what they had done to arrive at their win. We slowed down to appreciate and be grateful for the breakthroughs that they achieved.

At work, and in life, it’s crucial to celebrate your wins – no matter how big or small – before moving on to the next project.

Here’s Why Celebrating Your Wins is So Important

One of the most frequent complaints that I hear from the teams I work with is that they don’t get the chance to celebrate after achieving a big goal. They give their all, nine to five, Monday to Friday (and some weekends), sacrifice time with family, time at the gym, sleep and so much more because they care about getting the job done. And then…nothing.

If they’re lucky, their boss sends a “thank you” email to the team. If they’re really fortunate, they might get lunch on the company dollar. More often than not, they get a “Now, let’s take that same energy and commitment into the next project!” 

Here’s the thing: when we don’t take the time to celebrate, recognize, and honor our accomplishments we minimize them.

Celebration Helps to Integrate What You’ve Learned

Accomplishments aren’t the result of sitting on the couch in your comfort zone. When you meet a big team goal, land a new job, get promoted or master a new skill, it’s because you dedicated yourself, and focused on the task at hand. All of that hard work deserves recognition.

Furthermore, when you celebrate your wins, you allow yourself to integrate the entire experience. Press pause to savor the moment and you’ll also get a well-earned endorphin kick, which makes it easier to recognize the value of your contributions.

Five Ways to Celebrate

You don’t have to reserve the big celebrations for public accomplishments. If your win is personal and no one else knows about it, you should still take the time to shout “woohoo!” and pat yourself on the back. Here are five easy ways to celebrate with your friends, family or team the next time you accomplish a goal.

1. Share appreciation or recognition: ask everyone involved to thank or acknowledge at least one other person for the specific value that they brought to the accomplishment.

   
   

2. Share meaning: ask everyone to express what achieving this goal means to them personally. How have they grown through the experience and what lessons will stay with them?

   
   

3. Share moments of happiness: ask people to share a specific time on their quest that made them the happiest. Remind them to consider the “little things.”

   
   

4. Evaluate the process: discuss what went well and what could go better or differently next time.

   
   

5. Celebrate the failures: failure is a critical step in the process. What were the perceived missteps? Is there something you can see more clearly now in hindsight? How can you grow from the whole experience?

   
   

How do you celebrate your wins? Drop me a line and let me know.

If you’d like to discuss this topic or another leadership topic that’s on your mind, schedule a breakthrough session with me.