Ever wondered why it’s so easy to get disappointed when you fail, however, when it comes to feeling proud of something you have accomplished, a moment of celebration just quickly fades away or even goes unnoticed?
Well, a recent study shows that it is easier to punish yourself for little mistakes than to celebrate your daily achievements or successful moments – Especially if you feel that you haven’t reached your definition or standard of success yet. However, sadly enough many of us might not realise that celebrating your small wins is an important way to track incremental achievements as you work towards achieving a larger goal.
Essentially, if you can’t seem to appreciate the little you achieve now, how will you be able to appreciate or even recognise your ‘big’ achievements in the future? Besides that, taking the time to celebrate your small wins makes you ‘feel good’ too!
With that in mind, what happens when you celebrate your small wins?
You get motivated to achieve bigger goals
According to research, tracking down your small wins or achievements enhances your motivation. The practice of recording your progress helps you appreciate your small wins which also boosts your sense of confidence. Having progress is also an important part of feeling motivated. Scientists describe this as the progress principle, which essentially means that every single person gets a sense of fulfilment and motivation by ‘making progress in meaningful work’.
Celebrating your small wins will not only make a difference in how you feel and how you perform, but it will also help you progress in your daily activities. In other words, the more you celebrate your small wins, the more motivated you become to make progress, and the closer you get towards achieving bigger goals.
So how do you start celebrating your small wins?
Track your progress
Take the time to write down or track your progress. It will help you recognise how far you have come in achieving your goals. For example, anytime you accomplish something whether this is in your career or business-related, document it in a diary. At the end of each week or month, go through the things you’ve listed and you will realise that you have a lot to celebrate. Also, writing down your progress or small wins will remind you how close you are to achieving your bigger goals.
Reward yourself
Always remember that it’s okay to reward your self. Anytime you accomplish something small or big, do something nice for yourself. Whether it’s as small as just taking a break for a few hours or day or as big as going on a trip. Don’t let any accomplishment go unnoticed.
Be thankful
Celebrate your small wins by being grateful for what you have. An attitude of gratitude can truly go a long way. There is always someone out there who wished they were in your position. Or could even do half of the things you’ve done. If you’re only focused on achieving the big goals, you might forget how blessed you are. Your ‘small win’ is someone else’s ‘big achievement’ – Be thankful.
Don’t be too hard on yourself
The road to achieving your ‘wins’ is not a perfect one. You will make a few mistakes, miss a couple of deadlines, which of course is annoying but it makes you human. Don’t leave work frustrated about something that went wrong. Instead, choose to celebrate the little thing that went right. Same goes for your business. Don’t hesitate to celebrate your new subscribers, customers or mini financial milestones. It might not always work out as expected, but as long as you’re making progress… Don’t be too hard on yourself.
