I witness so many of my clients accomplishing amazing things—making drastic career changes, launching businesses, starting blogs and writing books, quadrupling their networks, shedding limiting beliefs, pursuing passions…
It’s not that all these accomplishments go smoothly from A to Z. There are setbacks. There are missteps along the way.
But there are also amazing milestones met and surpassed. Achievements achieved. Accomplishments accomplished.
But do they celebrate?
- Do they stop, step back, and smile at their handiwork?
- Do they pause, let out a big exhale, and bask in the delight of the moment?
Not usually.
Instead, they’re on to the next thing. The next hurdle to jump, the next mountain to climb.
You don’t have to throw a parade
Celebrate doesn’t mean you rent out Yankee Stadium or throw a ticker tape parade (although both would be kind of cool). It doesn’t mean you take out a full-page ad in your local paper or shout from the rooftops.
But it does mean you take in the moment and mark the occasion.
celebrate: publicly acknowledge with a social gathering or enjoyable activity
celebration: the action of marking one’s pleasure at an important event or occasion by engaging in enjoyable, typically social, activity
Is it really asking too much to celebrate an accomplishment with an enjoyable activity? Is is too much to mark an achievement some way, some how?
I used to be lousy at celebrating
- It was the perfectionist in me who never viewed anything as being quite good enough.
- It was the taskmaster in me who was afraid celebrating meant letting up and neglecting all that was still left to do.
- It was the dreamer in me who always saw the next mountain to climb.
Refusing to celebrate is diminishing
But what I’ve come to realize is refusing to celebrate is diminishing. Diminishing to me, to my efforts, to the people around me who would like to take part in my accomplishment through celebration.
By acting as if an achievement is nothing and not worth noting, it diminishes its value. In that sense, an unwillingness to celebrate is lacking in gratitude.
- Are you lousy at celebrating your accomplishments—big and small?
- Is your way of celebrating an accomplishment to simply move on to the next task, goal, or project on your list?
What will you do to start celebrating your achievements?
