Whatever Works

A toolkit for self optimization

1.11 Celebrate Success

Take the time to appreciate and celebrate your accomplishments.

Motivation

Life is more than just work, work, work. Highly productive people sometimes feel that they must always be doing something; many complete one project only to immediately move on to the next. Frequently, these people become so stressed about completing projects, absorbing important information, ticking off tasks, and meeting deadlines that they forget to stop, breathe, and smell the roses.

This endless treadmill of productivity can lead to burnout and generate ever-increasing stress. Furthermore, those who stake their emotional well-being on the successful completion of a project can become disappointed, even despondent, if they fail to achieve their aims. Celebrating successes of any size can help people enjoy the journey, not just the outcome.

Benefits

Celebrations remind us that achievement alone can’t deliver true well-being and that sharing enjoyable experiences with loved ones is also essential to happiness.
When you celebrate what you’ve already achieved, you boost your motivation to accomplish even more.
Many people think negatively about themselves and their lives. Bringing successes into focus can counter this tendency.

Challenges

If you’re highly stressed, celebrating your successes might feel disingenuous or meaningless.
There may be times when other obligations take precedence over celebrations, distracting from them and diluting their positive impact.

Application

Celebrating is about appreciating what you have accomplished. You may wish to do this when you hit a specific project milestone or simply when you reach the end of a challenging day, week, or year. The reason is less important than the ritual itself.

The actual celebration can be as large or small as you wish. Pausing for a few seconds to breathe and reflect with pride on your progress is a celebration, as is taking a walk while listening to a favorite song and eating some ice cream. If you are part of a team, you can include them, too, or share your wins with close friends or loved ones.

Another celebratory habit is to spend a few minutes before you go to bed each night reflecting on your successes from the day. This can be a particularly useful method to reduce stress and build a sense of self-worth. To take this even further, try writing down what you’re celebrating, either digitally or with pen and paper.

This is similar to doing a daily gratitude practice (see Tool 3.3: Gratitude) but with a slightly different focus. Gratitude can focus on anything: yourself, others, nature, the world at large. Your successes, however, are your personal accomplishments; celebrating them is a reminder of your abilities and the effort you put into reaching your goals.