Why is it that we spend so little time celebrating the accomplishing of our goals? Is it because there is always too much more to be done, and we feel pressured to focus on what we need to accomplish next? When we have a successful mindset, we always feel the urge so greatly to get that next win that we can easily forget to stop and celebrate wins before moving on and shifting our focus to the next challenge.
But if we never stop to celebrate how far we’ve come, along with enjoying the victories in between, we can easily burn out. Celebrating the wins is more than just congratulating oneself for a job well done—it is about building the emotional capital and momentum to take on that next big thing. Celebrating your successes with others helps you build the bridges and connections needed for future success and gives you an opportunity to show gratitude for those who helped out along the way.
Here is a three-step strategy for celebrating your wins with others:
1. Share The Story Of Your Success With Those Around You. Create a short, compelling story about how you succeeded—telling it in the form of a story makes it more tangible to those around you. Once it becomes tangible, social capital is created, and bridges and connections are built between you and others. Stories are an effective means of communicating how you got there, and they also give you a chance to highlight others’ contributions and express gratitude. In telling the story, it prolongs and amplifies your happiness and, therefore, can encourage others to do similar things with respect to their goals.
2. Include The Specifics About How You Got There. By recounting the specifics of the challenges we faced, the strategies we implemented, and the adjustments we made along the way, we help others potentially see new ways of approaching their challenges and goals. Sharing the specifics also has an added benefit for us—it helps us solidify and reinforce the new patterns of behavior we have put in place. The positive reinforcement we receive from those we share the story with gives us the boost we need to take on new challenges and work through them in the future.
3. Talk About The Win As Part Of A Bigger Picture. The impact of accomplishing a hard-won goal transcends the goal itself. Individual wins are not isolated events—instead, they become part of the larger picture of your life and the lives of those impacted by your success. Replaying the win in the context of the bigger picture helps you tap into the positive feeling and energy needed to take on that next big step, but it also helps those around you see and connect with what you’ve done and what you hope to accomplish moving forward. This will make it easier for them to support you and encourage you as you embark on the next journey.
Celebrating the wins in life through stories that are compelling, succinct, and can be shared with others will ensure that your successes have an impact and influence far beyond just accomplishing that one specific goal.
I’d love to hear and learn from your most recent success. Please feel free to share your story with me.