If I were to ask you what you have accomplished in 2015, what would you say? Would you proudly list all your achievements, large and small? Would you need to think for a moment, then give a few big things that you have accomplished? Or would you instantly say ‘nothing’?
Many people will say ‘nothing’. They think they have achieved ‘nothing’ all year. Now firstly, this is impossible. You cannot get through an entire year without accomplishing something. Ok, you may not have become CEO or President or earned your first billion or become a best-selling author or taken over from Simon Cowell on the X Factor. But there are many achievements that you have probably breezed past.
Most people do this, they save their celebrations for ‘big’ occasions and achievements only (if at all) and miss out on the opportunity for daily celebration. I am consistently amazed at how difficult people find it to celebrate themselves and their achievements. We are so stingy with our praise of ourselves. With our friends and family, we will be able to see all the things that we could raise a glass to them for – their courage, their dedication, that they have worked hard, because they are a great friend/parent, but ourselves, well somehow we’re ‘not good enough’ and don’t deserve to be celebrated.
We’re just not used to celebrating our lives, our small achievements, sometimes even our big achievements. Earlier this year one of my clients reached a major goal. When I asked what they’d be doing to celebrate, they answered in all seriousness “Working toward the next goal”. Hmm. Well, there is always another mountain to climb, another goal to reach for, another problem to sort out.
And the bad news? There always will be! Life will never be ‘perfect’ because we will always want ‘more’ – there will be something new and shiny to reach for because that’s what we do, that’s life. The good news is that this means you might as well celebrate every small (and big) achievement – then you get to celebrate a lot, have a lot of fun and enjoy each of your accomplishments.
As the year draws to a close, look back over the past year and look at what you have achieved – small stuff as well as ‘big’ stuff. Maybe you completed a big project at work, maybe you made a new friend, wrote a blog, paid off a debt, did a course, learnt a new skill, treated yourself to something you’ve always wanted to do (yes, you get to celebrate treating yourself too – it’s a double whammy!), helped a friend, overcame a difficulty, made progress on a goal…there are hundreds of ‘small’ achievements that just go by completely unremarked upon, and dozens of ‘big’ achievements that we mean to celebrate, but forget because the next task/goal/stage is calling.
So take the time to celebrate your life over this last year and enjoy every wonderful little baby step you took in your most wonderful life.
Oh, and Merry Christmas one and all!
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