Cultivate Happiness By Celebrating Your Accomplishments
For some reason, we’ve taken humility a bit too far in most cases. People often disregard or minimize their accomplishments. Unfortunately, we’re far too skilled at critiquing ourselves and identifying negative aspects of any situation.
Instead, we should focus on the positive aspects and celebrate the things we achieve in this life. Today, we’ll talk about why you deserve to celebrate your accomplishments and how to do so in a healthy way.
Why You Should Celebrate Your Accomplishments
Happiness is not a final destination. Rather, it is a journey that you can embark on every day for the rest of your life. We don’t mean to say that you’ll never achieve true happiness. Instead, we say this to explain that you don’t ever have to stop chasing it. There is always more out of life to be gained.
As part of this journey, you will have many accomplishments. Of course, success does not automatically equal happiness. That said, your personal goals are important to you. When you accomplish them, you feel good about yourself.
Here are some of the benefits of celebrating your accomplishments as they relate to overall happiness:
Improved self-esteem and self-confidence
Higher motivation to achieve more goals
Increased likelihood of engaging in similar behaviors
Positive changes to brain chemistry
Better relationship with yourself
Decreased likelihood of fear and self-sabotage holding you back
How to Celebrate Your Accomplishments
Celebrating your accomplishments may sound simple, but there are actually a ton of ways to do so. Before we talk about that, let’s discuss what accomplishments you should celebrate. The short answer is all of them.
No matter how big or small the accomplishment is, you deserve to celebrate it. What may seem like a routine task for some will seem like a monumental undertaking for others. For instance, calling your doctor’s office to make an appointment is a routine part of life. But, for someone with social anxiety or a phobia of medical appointments, this would be a major accomplishment.
So, our first tip is to never discredit your accomplishments even if they would seem irrelevant to other people. Here are some other tips for celebrating your accomplishments:
Praise yourself when you complete tasks on your to-do list, achieve your goals, and engage in any positive behaviors throughout the day. You can say something in your head, but praising yourself out loud has an even bigger positive effect.
Brag about your accomplishments to others when appropriate. For instance, people who are in your core support system would understand why making a doctor’s appointment is a huge deal, while your neighbor down the street may not.
Make a list of your accomplishments thus far. Add to it whenever you accomplish something else. Refer to this list when you’re having a bad day or need a little extra motivation.
Get yourself a tangible reward when appropriate. For instance, you shouldn’t reward yourself for going to the gym with a slice of cake. However, allowing yourself to splurge on a new item of clothing when you advance at work would be a great reward and consistent motivator.
Express gratitude toward the people who helped you achieve your goal. No one gets through this life on their own. Of course, it’s up to you to put in the hard work. But somewhere along the line, someone gave you an opportunity when no one else would, offered words of wisdom, or assisted with other resources. They deserve your gratitude. Showing appreciation also keeps you humble and promotes healthy relationships.
Accept compliments and praises that others give to you. Most people’s immediate reaction is to downplay the compliment or throw it back to the other person. However, a simple “thank you” goes a long way in improving your happiness and self-worth.
Set realistic goals for yourself. Again, happiness and accomplishments are a journey. You don’t have to achieve everything all at once. Instead, break your main goals down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Be patient with yourself and don’t push yourself too hard.
Make a list of the reasons why you deserve to celebrate. Consider the hard work that you put into the accomplishment and what additional opportunities it could open up for you. This helps to combat issues like imposter syndrome and self-sabotage.
