Choosing to celebrate your small wins can be vital. When you celebrate yourself each step of the way, it helps you to fight that thing inside of you that wants to give up. We can get so caught up in the world around us; it is easy to recognize the big accomplishments that we see other people achieve, we forget that we are just as important. Celebrating where you are today can be just the reminder that you need to keep going.
“Allow each small achievement to be a success. Positive thoughts will grow as you win small victories in your running. And these positive thoughts will lead to more positive results.”
Michael D’Aulerio
In 2015 I went on a weight loss journey, I lost a lot of weight, but even after all of that I didn’t feel like it was enough. I would look in the mirror and see the same girl from 60 pounds ago. I presented myself to the world as more confident. But I would step on the scale and still see a larger number than I preferred. So, when I reverted to my old eating patterns, I didn’t notice myself gaining all the weight back. Not only did I gain it all back, but I added about double that number. Now, hear me out, this is not a sympathy piece. This is just one of the best personal experiences that I could think to give you. Not only that but I can guarantee that I am not alone in that experience.
What am I getting at? Had I celebrated how far I’d come and meant it, I would be long past that point today. Again, I told the world that I was losing weight, but I never actually told myself that I was doing so darn great. So, because I couldn’t recognize where I was at in the moment, I lost myself somewhere along the way. I am back on the right path and this time I choose to celebrate ME every step of the way.
Don’t be like me you guys! At least the 2015 me. If you are making strides in any area of your life whether big or small celebrate that! It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture but acknowledge to yourself that you are doing an amazing job.
What are small wins?
Small wins are those things that may not make a big impact on the grand scale, but they are a notch toward the larger goal. They are smaller accomplishments that you achieve that align with your intentions. This can be in any area of your life: personal, professional, physical, or mental, etc.
- Take someone in college working toward the next degree for example. You may not be ready to graduate this semester, but you passed all your classes. Or on an even smaller scale, the semester isn’t over, but you passed the midterm that you were worried about. Celebrate that thing!
- With weightloss, if you have a goal of 30 lbs., you are down 5, and it took you a whole month. Girl, that 1st five lbs. can be the hardest sometimes; celebrate that milestone and keep it pushing.
- Your house is a mess and even though you have a busy week ahead, you know it has to get done. Take it one room at a time and pat yourself on the back for finishing that ONE.
These are just a couple of examples and none of them may necessarily mean anything to you. You know what it is that you are working toward. You know what you have been trying to accomplish maybe even for a long time now. What it is that has been in the back of your mind or heavy on your heart. I want you to go for it, and in the process, celebrate yourself every step of the way.
“Celebrate all small victories in life, the task you finished, the friendly match you won, goals you achieved, friends you made and kindness you’ve shown. You can be happy with small victories and consider every day that you live a blessing. Celebrate life as it is too short to just wait for big wins for celebrations.”
-Uknown
How can I celebrate my small wins?
This can be a personal celebration; you don’t have to announce it to the world if you don’t want. The purpose of this “celebration” is not to be affirmed by the world, but so that we can affirm ourselves. We just want to make sure we are doing everything in our power to keep that momentum going.
Here are few ideas that we can all use to celebrate those small wins.
Write it down.
If you write down all your small wins, one day you will be able to look back at all of these benchmarks and not only see how hard you worked, but how strong you were for pushing through.
I can guarantee that you will remember how you felt leading up to each of these wins; the stress, the fear, the wariness, the dark days, but also the happiness, the relief the peace and the joy for reaching these milestones.
Take a self-care day.
Get your nails done, hair done, take a bath, take a hike; whatever self-care looks like to you. Treat yourself, you deserve it.
Take a day off.
You worked hard to get to where you are, so take the day to reset and recenter yourself. Relax and start to think about where you go from here.
Tell a few friends.
Do you have a small close group of friends that you trust with your journey? A group or a person that will be excited with you even for the smallest of things? Let them know how proud you are for this small win and let them be in the moment with you.
What is the importance of celebrating them?
If you celebrate the small wins, you are not constantly looking at all that needs to be accomplished as this huge task that will never get done.
Most of us have probably heard the quote by Desmond Tutu “There is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time” simply put, he is saying that things can look intimidating and overwhelming and even like it will never happen, but if we take one step at a time and keep moving, eventually we will get to the finish line…whatever that may look like for you. Along the way celebrate each “bite”, each step and it will give you the confidence and the momentum to keep moving forward.
The worst feeling in the world is when you quit; find your reason to keep going.