I’m so sorry about the earworm. I really am and if you can get over it, I have a question for you…
How often do you celebrate? If it sounds like a strange question, it actually is. But there is a method to my madness in asking.
As a mindset coach and a total geek on all things mindset, I’ve come to realize how helpful it is to celebrate when it comes to calming down that inner critic and creating a more positive mindset. And sadly, I don’t think we’ll take much time to celebrate. Sincerely included. This is why…
WE ARE MUCH BETTER AT CALLING “THE NEGATIVE”
“The truth is that as much as can be accomplished by showing a person when they’re wrong, ten times more can be accomplished by showing them where they’re right. The reason we don’t do it as often is because it’s more fun to throw a stone through a window than to put a pane of glass”. -Robert T. Allen
It is true. We are much better at pointing out mistakes and failures than we are at celebrating efforts. (Actually, we have a negative bias to thank for that.)
So instead of celebrating a completed project or goal, we move from that project or goal to the next. OBJECTIVE…not without first taking a moment to point out all the things that didn’t work.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN…
So what if we were on “high alert” every day for things to celebrate?
Celebrating a lesson learned from a mistake made.
Celebrating taking the right path in a conversation.
Celebrate the parts of a project that worked instead of focusing on the parts that didn’t.
What would be possible?
THE COOL SIDE EFFECTS OF CELEBRATING
To that last question, much is possible. Like the change of attitudes, the raising of mentalities, the change of perspectives because…
The brain cannot think positive and negative at the same time. And celebrating triggers a release of all sorts of “feel-good” chemicals in our brains. Oh, and did you know that celebrating helps boost memory?
Would you mind experiencing those side effects and experimenting a bit on your own?
THE EXPERIMENT
For the next two weeks, let’s deliberately celebrate every day. Celebrate the small wins, the great things that happen, the good things we do, the lessons learned, the progress made… let’s celebrate all the good things.
And if celebrating isn’t something you’ve done outside of birthday parties or anniversaries, here are some ideas to support your celebration efforts.
Create a celebration box. What you will need is a small box, like a shoebox that you can decorate (if you wish) and 14 pieces of paper. On each sheet of paper, write something that you consider a special gift. For example, the book you wanted to buy, a special dessert, etc. Fold the papers in half and place them inside the box. At the end of the day, take a piece of paper out of the box and give yourself that special gift to celebrate!
Evening celebration diary. Before your head hits the pillow at night, take stock of your day and make a list of all the interesting things that happened. Or if you’re like me and don’t remember what you had for lunch carry an “Atta Way” notebook with you… a small notebook where you can quickly write down the cool things to read it again before going to sleep.
So, on your marks, set, let’s celebrate because you, my friend, are worth celebrating!
(As originally posted on Walking the Walk Blog)
