An important part of the science of achievement is to celebrate our successes. It’s also one that’s easily ignored and often contradicted.
The problem for many of us is that we never quite feel successful because as soon as we reach one goal or pass a certain milestone, we’re already going after the next one. Too often we don’t stop to revel in the feeling of accomplishment because we’re too focused on the next rung of the ladder—if we’ve even noticed we’ve moved up another rung.
I’m not advocating resting on our laurels, I’m suggesting that we truly experience the joy that comes from seeing our progress and accomplishing our objectives.
Years ago, I wrote and published my first book. It took over a year because of a number of things that happened—too personal, boring or mundane to mention.
But it felt great to finally have it done and I got lots of accolades from people I respect and admire for its value.
But I found it all too easy to look at how long it took and how far behind I got with other projects. I thought of lots of ways I could have done it better. In doing so, I took away from my satisfaction—my sense of accomplishment and joy.
And I know I’m not alone in this process. The people I interview and coach share that they often do the same thing. No job seems good enough. No achievement is great enough.
It’s the wrong focus. Because when we do this, we’re being ungrateful—we’re thwarting abundance.
We can always see ways that we could have done it better, faster etc. But the truth is we did it. In my case, having published a book was clearly a milestone—something millions of people aspire to and yet only a few hundred thousand actually achieve.
So I celebrated it. I marked it down as a high point that it is in my life and I started on the next one. I indulged myself in feelings of triumph and success and thumbed my nose at the natural tendency for me to disparage my work or myself.
What accomplishment can you celebrate? What milestones can you highlight or acknowledge? Your last promotion? Helping someone through a tough time? Winning that new contract? Losing those five pounds? Giving that presentation?
When we do these things, it anchors positive feelings into our consciousness and prepares us for more of the same. Like attracts like and our feelings are powerful magnets indeed.
I keep a WIN LIST as part of my Best Life Navigator. I find that listing the wins in my life—big and small—is more than therapeutic. And it’s a real pick-me-up to review the good things that have happened to me as well as the things I’ve made happen.
It keeps me grateful and it keeps me focused on the good stuff.
Celebrating our successes utilizes a universal law: when we appreciate what we have and what we’ve done, we find ourselves having more to appreciate.
Recommended Reading
Best Life Book Series
The path to your best life is through your Compelling Core Values, your Empowering Purpose, your Meaningful Mission, your Vital Vision and your Solid Goals. And this series has a book for each of them. Pick out individual ones or get the whole series.
