How to Celebrate Your Wins
The question that I want to explore this week is:
How can you take time to celebrate the wins in your life?
MINI-CELEBRATIONS FOR MINI-WINS:
Most of us have no problem celebrating the big wins, a new job or promotion, a new house, graduation, etc. But where is the party for when I take out the garbage when it’s getting stinky? Where are the cheerleaders for when I make sure I drink enough water for the day? But more importantly, where are the shirt cannons, confetti, pumping music, disco lights, and fireworks for the days I get out of bed when I don’t really want to get out of bed?
Since none of those scenarios are actually going to happen, it helps to find other ways to reward yourself for doing all those little things that you know you should do. Continuous mini-celebrations for these moments can keep you motivated and feeling rewarded to keep doing the things that serve you, even when (and especially when) you don’t feel like doing them.
Think about dopamine, which is the reward chemical in the brain. It basically tells your body & brain: “Oh, HELL, yes! More of THAT!!” Whatever that is. So when you give yourself little rewards (that) for doing the little things for yourself that you said you would do, it not only builds self-confidence and self-trust, but it makes you want to keep doing those things.
Some easy ways you can celebrate those small wins every day:
• Read a magazine or book that you’ve been eyeing lately
•Take a relaxing long bath
• Get dressed up for no reason
• Reward yourself with a gift
• Call someone you’ve been meaning to catch up with
• Take a moment to share your small win with a friend or family member
• Enjoy a couple episodes of your favorite classic sitcom
• Treat yourself to a delicious meal
• Dance around to some groovy tunes
• Get creative for creativity’s sake, paint, draw, sculpt, take pictures, write poetry, whatever outlet that suits your fancy
KEEP TOKENS OF YOUR CELEBRATIONS:
When you surround yourself with reminders of your celebrations, it’s going to make you feel good. Not only that, it will encourage you to continue to plan celebrations for your wins.
One of the keys to happiness is always having something to look forward to. When you develop the habit of celebrating your wins, big and small, it creates a chain reaction where you are more likely to plan even more things to look forward to.
It’s not a secret that you get more of what you focus on, it’s hard wired into us as human beings as the reticular activating system.
A few ways to do this include switching your lock screen on your phone to a picture of you and someone you love. In general, just take more pictures of you and people you love - for you and the people you love, not just for sharing on social media.
Collect a souvenir of that moment — this could be anything from a shell on the beach during a walk or getting a tattoo with someone special. The latter is a little extreme, but just think outside of the box of a way to really capture a wonderful memory of your celebration.
Celebration is a kind of food we all need in our lives, and each individual brings a special recipe or offering, so that together we will make a great feast. Celebration is a human need that we must not, and can not, deny. It is richer and fuller when many work and then celebrate together. — Corita Kent
So many people are waiting to feel happy, waiting to celebrate, thinking that what they have isn’t good enough or that they need to accomplish something big in order to celebrate. You woke up today, and that is something to celebrate.
