How to celebrate well

I'm particularly poor at celebrating my achievements. I used to chalk it up to staying humble and not tooting my own horn, as my mom would say. But I've realised that you can maintain your humility AND celebrate. Everyone doesn't need to know each time you celebrate an achievement but the act of doing it will help you attain a sense of accomplishment that shouldn't be undervalued.

In a few previous posts, I've talked about including celebration in your plan. Meet a milestone? Celebrate! Nail your workout? Celebrate! Pay attention to your body during a meal? Celebrate! And while the type of the celebration will vary from small and personal to 'shout it from the rooftops', how do we actually know when and how to celebrate?

1. Plan ahead

When you're planning your workout, or setting your goals and milestones, take some time to imagine how it's going to feel when you achieve it. It might sound hokey, but really imagine how great it's going to be and how proud of yourself you will be. If your friend did something like that, you'd want to celebrate right? So why not do the same for yourself?

Think ahead to how you want to tell yourself how proud you are. Maybe after six weeks of steady achievements in the gym, it's time to buy that new workout gear you've been wanting. Maybe you need an hour at the driving range to celebrate completing a big project at work. Or maybe you need to throw a party to celebrate hitting a major target in your business plan. Whatever it is, make sure you decide in advance, write it down, and then do it when the time comes.

2. Use it for motivation

A friend recently set a weight loss target and decided that if she hit the target, she was going on a big trip. As an added bonus, her mom offered to pay for half if she met her goal on time. Wow, what a great source of motivation! She had her goal and a plan to reach it but the celebration was just as much motivation as the goal itself. (If it's not already evident, she smashed her weight loss target and took that trip.)

This approach works in a way that's similar to the carrot and stick method. If you dangle the proverbial carrot in front of yourself, you're bound to keep going - provided that the 'carrot' is meaningful. It's worth noting that sometimes just achieving the goal isn't motivation enough. It might feel too far away, or too big and daunting. But the celebration is real and tangible and can get you excited in ways the goal alone can't.

3. Do it!

Celebrations like a big trip are easy to commit to. They take planning and need to be booked well in advance, so it's unlikely that you'll skip this kind of celebration. It's the smaller ones that tend to get overlooked. Even if you plan ahead, and use it for motivation, who would know if you do it or not?

This is the time to make a commitment to yourself. The act of celebrating, whether big or small, has a significant impact on our self esteem and sense of self worth. If we continually shrug off the celebration of our achievements (particularly those that no one else might know about), eventually we start to doubt the value of what we do. There is a dearth of information out there on 'self-care' and to some extent this falls into the same category. When we fail to celebrate our own achievements, or fail to look after ourselves, we and those around us will suffer. Don't wait until that point - celebrate right now!

#love