7 Ways To Celebrate Your Business Success
Celebrating your wins - from the small victories to the milestone wins
Have you ever got stuck in that loop of chasing the next business milestone, or telling yourself you’ll reward yourself when you reach X-goal…
Aaaand then you reach that goal or milestone and instead of celebrating your success - what do you do? You tell yourself you’ll actually reward yourself/ be happy/ be successful/ finally feel like a BOSS when you reach the NEXT goal or milestone?
As a business owner overcoming toxic productivity I know this loop alllll too well.
On my (ongoing) quest to unpick this unhealthy habit of seeking the ‘high’ of ticking things off my to-do list, I’ve become a huge advocate of celebrating our successes, no matter whether they’re a small step, or a big milestone.
How often do you take the time to celebrate your wins as you grow your business?
Probably not nearly enough! And that’s because celebrating our success isn’t always as easy as it sounds.
Why celebrating our success can feel deeply uncomfortable...
Negativity bias
The negativity bias in our brains makes it easy to spot the things that aren’t working, don’t go well or that we perceive ourselves to be rubbish at! We might reach a milestone that we should be proud of, but we still pick apart the little things that didn’t go well.
We think it’s showing off / being arrogant
We’ve been conditioned to avoid bigging ourselves up because we think it’s showing off/ being arrogant, or being self-indulgent.
We always want to be reaching for the next thing
We’re always moving the goalposts on ourselves. We often tell ourselves that once we reach a certain milestone, we’ll be happy, we’ll celebrate then. But then we get there and all we can think about is reaching for the next big goal. It feels ‘unproductive’ to stop and celebrate our wins when we just want to get to work on reaching the next milestone.
Our ‘small’ wins don’t feel big enough to celebrate
It’s easy to think that the small everyday successes aren’t big enough to celebrate. But if we can get comfortable with celebrating the small victories, it’ll be easier to start celebrating the big wins too.
The benefits of celebrating your wins in business (& why it's a MUST)!
There’s a lot that's stopping us from celebrating our wins. But in missing out on rewarding ourselves and acknowledging our successes, we’re missing out on so many benefits.
Acknowledge your progress
Without stopping to celebrate our wins we have this tendency to keep reaching for the next thing, and the next thing, without taking a moment to look back and see how far we've come. And this is where we can start to feel disheartened by our 'slow progress'.
By taking a moment to celebrate your wins, from the small victories to the big milestones, it helps you to acknowledge how far you've come and the progress you're making. Which in turn, will help to keep you feeling motivated.
Taking on learnings to inform future planning
By looking back and reflecting on your wins and progress you can start to notice the things you did well, the things that felt easy and what just seemed to work! You might start to notice strengths you never realised you had - all of which can help inform your plans moving forwards.
Recognise the people who helped you
Celebrating your success also gives you an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the people who helped you reach this milestone. If you struggle to celebrate your wins in isolation, this is a wonderful way to bring others in and celebrate as a team.
Happy hormones
Celebrating our wins helps to release all of the hormones that make us feel good. Oxytocin, endorphins, serotonin & dopamine all help us to feel happy, but also get focussed and feel more comfortable with taking risks. All of these hormones help us to drive even more success and wins - love that chain reaction!
Cultivate gratitude & a positive mindset
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey.
I love this quote because it explains exactly what happens when we celebrate our wins on the reg. By actively seeking out our wins on a regular basis, we can foster a more positive mindset and train our brains to look out for other positive things, results and opportunities.
Getting noticed
Celebrating your wins can draw positive attention to you. Yes, I know, scary! This often taps into the uncomfortable feeling that we're showing off. BUT by shouting about your successes, you're helping to get yourself in front of the people who'd love to collaborate with you, or to invite you to write for their magazine, or speak on their podcast.
7 ways to celebrate your business success
from the small victories to the milestone wins
1) Be Bouji
Treat yourself to something that feels like a good investment or an (intentional) splurge. The shoes, the bag, the investment coat, the champagne, the fancy dinner, the luxe spa day.
This is one of my favourite ways to celebrate because it really means something and it’s memorable. I have a pair of earrings and a handbag that I bought as a reward gift-to-self. I use/wear them all the time, and I’ll never forget the milestones that they represent.
As for taking yourself on a spa day - is there any better way to celebrate reaching a milestone than restoring your mind and body with a luxurious massage and a cocktail at the spa? Don’t think so!
2) Write down your wins every day and read them back
This is a really easy way to celebrate and acknowledge your wins on a daily basis. And it helps you SEE the steps you’re taking towards your big goals each day too.
Write down three things you did well at the end of each day and read them back from time to time to remind yourself of how far you’ve come.
This is not about listing the things you ticked off your to-do list each day - because we want to get away from the belief that we only deserve reward for hustle! This is about writing down the things you did well.
You could write down ‘took the afternoon off because I knew I needed to get outdoors’ or ‘said no to the unpaid speaking opportunity because I knew it didn’t feel aligned’ - so that you’re not only celebrating the things you’ve achieved, but also the times you stuck to your boundaries or were kind to yourself too (which in my opinion probably deserves a higher reward because it’s hard)!
3) Take yourself on a solo-date, or solo mini-break
Give yourself the gift of TIME.
I love going for mini-breaks and solo-date days by myself. I love to explore a place I’ve not been to before and revel in the luxury of a hotel room all to myself for a night or two. I always come home feeling restored, creative and inspired.
4) Send yourself flowers and write a lovely note
Send yourself flowers with a loving note, as you would a friend. Keep the notes on a notice board or in a drawer and reflect back on them from time to time.
5) Plant a tree, somewhere you can see it continue to grow
I loooove this way of celebrating a milestone win. I like that you’ll be able to see that tree grow as you continue and reach further milestones as well. Plus feel-good environmental fuzzies.
6) Dance to the music that makes you feel invincible
A really quick and easy way to celebrate a win is to blast your favourite songs for a few minutes and dance around the kitchen. A sure way to get those happy hormones pumping.
7) Print and frame your success
Finally got that certification? Finally got featured in your favourite magazine? Frame your certificate, or your magazine piece and put it on the wall in your workspace.
Wanna tuck this in your pocket for when you reach your next business milestone? Pin it for later:
