I’m a great believer in Celebrating Success. Over the years I’ve become very good at this, as my friends, colleagues and family well know. So how do you celebrate success? You do celebrate success don’t you?
Now, as the pandemic is easing, and lockdowns are (or will soon be) a distant memory, it's a good time to start Celebrating Success. If you are reading this then Success = getting through the last few years.
If, like many of my clients, you are/were unused to celebrating success, let me share a plan and some ideas to get you started.
Start with creating a celebration menu. However many of us only know how to celebrate with food and alcohol which often is not ideal for a number of reasons. (insert your own reasons here – ie: I’m watching my weight; against company policy; too expensive; too boring….etc..)
Yet, just like a food menu, a celebration menu does need to include variety. Low cost, no cost, medium cost, high cost. Some take up little time and some take up much time. Some are experiences and some are actual things. Here are 21 ideas to get you started.
1. listen to your favourite music uninterrupted
2. pour yourself luxurious bath (add candles, salts, oils, music...)
3. read a novel (not a business or personal development book)
4. play a game (I was addicted to Sudoku for years!)
5. play in the park with your children, or borrow children if you don’t have any!
6. book tickets to an event you have been wanting to see
7. play with your pets – take the dog for a walk
8. sleep in
9. take the day off from screens - 24 hour digital detox
10. use/purchase some extra annual leave/vacation days
11. encourage your partner to make you a candlelit dinner
12. have a picnic in the park
13. catch up with friends at a café
14. visit a spa – have a massage, facial, pedicure…
15. go to a movie or the theatre
16. create something special using your artistic talents
17. purchase a new accessory (tie, scarf, bag, jewellery, watch)
18. time in the garden – new plants? new tools?
19. new stationary or homewares
20. rent a sportscar or motorbike and go for a long drive or ride
21. do something you have never done before
Once your menu is created, you get to choose the celebration that fits this occasion. Will it be an entrée, appetiser, main course, desert, side dish? Will it be high cost, low cost, no cost, time rich or time poor?
Lastly, celebrate! Now, remember, if you are celebrating with things, then be sure to link the thing (ie: new piece of clothing) to the event. “I’m wearing this new watch to remind me of when I finally asked for what I was worth in my salary negotiations”). Say it out aloud, tell your coach, anchor it in your mind so that when you see your watch remember why you bought it. The same with experiences, ie: when you are lying on the massage table, say to yourself and your massage therapist “I’m here today because I stuck to my boundaries and with dignity”.
Finally… ENJOY!