Celebrate Your Wins!

I was super proud of myself earlier this week, as I pushed myself beyond my limits and comfort zones. I finished my day with a sense of accomplishment and concluded that, at the end of the day, that I was ok. I was still alive, breathing and everyone was safe and content. As I stepped back and assessed my day, I knew that no one would understand or relate to my feelings of accomplishment, nor am I known for giving myself a pat on my own back, but I did. I was suddenly filled with a small sense of joy and happiness for myself, which is a rare moment, but one that I truly felt was well deserving.

It was funny how I came home and shared this experience with my husband, knowing that he couldn’t completely relate. He was a complete trooper and listened to my story and then gave me a handsome smile that gave me confirmation that even though he had no clue to the circumstance or the small victory that I had experienced that day, he was proud, and that was all I needed! It is all about the small things and successes in life that are truly important.

How often, on the road to our self-improvement and life goals do we truly step back and celebrate our small successes along the way? I know that I don’t do it enough, but it is something that should be recognized along our path that we call life.

All too often we create this grand plan with a final destination in mind. We tell ourselves that we will celebrate once we get to the end and achieve the plan that we have worked so hard to achieve. However, these grand plans are never accomplished on a straight line to success, because as well all know there are always obstacle and hurdles that we must overcome to get to our final destinations. The path is always winding, and when we set these plans in place, we need to recognize the winding path and plan accordingly. This is where celebrating the small victories comes into play!

Stopping to celebrate our small victories allows us to recognize our progress along the way. This not only makes us happy and gives us a feeling of accomplishment, this shows us that we are in fact making forward progress on the road to our ultimate goal. This is happiness and self-awareness of our accomplishments, no matter if people see it or recognize it.  The point is that you know, and that is all that matters!

This happiness and accomplishment fuels your motivational fire to keep going, push upward and onward along the journey. As we celebrate these small victories, we are reminding ourselves that we are on the right path and being successful along the way. I have found that this helps me get through the rough, not so good days where you feel like a failure, you feel stupid and you feel that your ultimate goal is unattainable! These small celebration parties give you enough drive to keep pushing forward and challenging yourself towards your goal.

Confidence is also gained from these small success parties. If we constantly focus on all of the obstacles we have and continue to face, confidence will soon find itself in the dump... trust me, I know from experience. However, when you celebrate even the smallest of achievements, you make a huge deposit into your self-confidence reservoir, and you are then able to tell yourself that “You can do this!!!”  This allows us to push forward into another day and that is huge. Self Confidence is big, because you may have all the ability and skills that you need to be amazing, but without self-confidence and a belief in yourself, your performance will be mediocre, and you will not perform to the ability that you ultimately possess.

So, go on, celebrate, don’t be afraid! Add ALL the funds to that self-confidence account and keep fighting the good fight on the road to your destination. Don’t quickly move on to the next challenge immediately, take a second to give yourself a pat on the back and a round of applause for a job well done!