HOW TO GIVE YOURSELF THE ROUND OF APPLAUSE YOU DESERVE

It's been a wild, eventful ride! This was a year of checked lists and getting it done. Think back to those resolutions you made at the beginning of the year - Did you meet them all? Meet some of them? Fulfilling a goal is an incredible feeling and it's a success that you shouldn't let pass you by. Here are some ways to celebrate those big wins.

Social Media: What better way to celebrate your success by sharing it? When it comes to professional or personal wins, making small announcements on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and are a good way to share your success and inspire other people who may also be on a similar path as you. Celebrating your success out loud is also a way to amplify that feeling of support whether it's from acquaintances in your circle or strangers.

Donation: Doing something nice for others can be as equally gratifying as doing something for yourself. Donate to a cause that is close to your heart. Big on wellness? Donate to mental health charities. Have an interest in fashion, supporting youth, and sustainability? Lend support to organizations like The Fashion Foundation or the Graduate Fashion Foundation. This can be a good way to wire your brain to associate success with compassion. Every time you hit a goal, that win for you is a win for other people.

Tie Your Success to a Physical Reminder: Commemorate a milestone with a physical object. Some people get plaques made, or frame something like a certificate on a wall. You can get creative: get one of your favorite motivational quotes embroidered and stitched, buy a mug with a memorable graphic on it, have the date of an important day engraved on a key fob or a watch. Photos can also serve as a visual reminder of progress.

Making Your Celebration Goal-Aligned: Whatever your celebration is should be related to the goal. Lose weight? Have a nice dinner at a plant-based restaurant. Reach a business goal? Start selling a limited edition item to celebrate or save funds for future travelling trips. Wellness goal? Invest in teas and supplements that make you glow from the inside and outside. Your celebration is a reward that also furthers that goal you started.

Even if you didn't reach your goals, this year, you can still use that as motivation to gear you forward. Whether you didn't hit any of your goals or you only partially fulfilled some of them - all progress is progress. Here's how to synthesize missed opportunities and turn them into a strategy.

Failure Is A Blueprint: There may have been a myriad of factors that prevented you from reaching your goals this year. Don't feel too disappointed - you can use this information to help re-orient you on the right track. Were you spare on time? Did you say you would start a project that you didn't get to? Failure is only failure if you make no further steps to improve. Convert your shortcomings into a plan.

Get Excited About It: Whatever you didn't get to this year, you have a fresh headstart on next year. You may even approach your goals differently with the foresight you learned this year. 

Be That Fully Realized Person: The idealized version of you may be fully productive, successful, well balanced in time management, excited about obstacles, etc. You can choose to be that person at any point in your life. What would that person do now? How would they react to setbacks and disappointments? You may not have the energy or feel motivated to do that one little thing, but that fully realized version of you might do it.

Give Yourself Leniency: You don't have to do everything right on the first try! Failures are what lead to success. Giving yourself trial and test runs and a little leeway to make mistakes is crucial. If you are hard on yourself, you may grow de-motivated. Allowing yourself compassion makes the process of learning exciting instead of excruciating.

However your year went, what you learned is still valuable. Start measuring the year in what you learned, not what you achieved. Celebrating progress can be fun but what matters most is internal transformation. You are a different person now than you were at the beginning of the year, and that is a good thing.

Sources:

Tony Robbins, "7 Ways To Celebrate Success"

Integrity Staffing, "How to Check In on Your New Year’s Resolutions at the End of January"