The Importance of Celebrating your Wins and Achievements
Do you celebrate your wins and achievements? Recently I was reflecting on personal achievements based on a conversation I had with a close friend. I’d nonchalantly mentioned something I had achieved recently, not placing too much importance on it. My friend stopped me and reminded me of a few other things I’d accomplished during the last year. She then told me how proud she was of me and how I shouldn’t discount any of my achievements. I was a bit taken aback because the things I’d done initially didn’t seem to be such important achievements, but looking back and thinking about what my friend said, I realized they were.
It’s important to remind ourselves of our own successes. We spend a lot of time dwelling on the things we should have or could have done differently, and really that is an energy drain. We have to remember that the journey is actually about the journey and what we learn from and do differently each step as we move forward. Making it through the last few years as a business owner is success in and of itself
Examples of Wins and Achievements
Celebrating and acknowledging your wins and milestones, both big and small, is important for small businesses. These could include the following:
- Meeting revenue goals
- Your first customer, first referral, or even first contact form sent from your website
- Your biggest month (volume), biggest increase, or biggest sale.
- Hiring your first team member or contractor,
- Launching a new product
- Having an article published about you
- An award you won
- A mention by someone you follow on social media.
And it doesn’t matter the size of your business either. Everything you do for your small business takes effort. Business ownership is never a straight shot in any direction and there are lots of ups and downs so pausing when good things happen – no matter how small – is critical and provides fuel to keep going.
So at the end of 2022, let’s all think about how far we’ve come this year. Let’s think about our small wins, as well as our larger ones.
Read last year’s blog post for ideas on how to do a successful year assessment.
And read this Indeed.com article on how managers can celebrate success in the workplace.
