Do you set goals for yourself, work your tail off, push through the struggle, then simply give yourself a little nod (if that) when you’ve hit your target instead of celebrating your success?
In talking with women, I’m hearing this is an all too common theme. We set goals (this in itself calls for a celebration much of the time), achieve them, and yet we rarely slow down long enough to acknowledge, feel and CONNECT to the emotion of our successes. We check it off the list and…on to the next thing.
Most of us are masters at beating ourselves up for not getting to everything on our to-do list or meeting a goal, but the majority of us don’t even think to celebrate when we do meet a goal make a dent in our mile long to-do list.
A coach I met during my coach certification once announced to the class, ‘What we don’t celebrate turns to shit.’ Kind of took the air out of the room for a moment.
Here’s the point he was making- we remember things through emotion. So, when we need a positive emotion to help us through a tough time, it’s not there to lean on. We struggle, questioning if we really have what it takes.
For some reason it’s much easier to pull up a negative memory or emotion for us to experience (over and over) like shame, anger, fear, guilt or frustration. We connect to those negative emotions viscerally, and can recall them in an instant…because we have a stockpile of them to draw from.
We have got to start celebrating our successes so we have an arsenal of positive emotions to draw from when we hit a bump in the road.
As a business owner, having the ability to access positive emotions when that bump is about to throw us off course (full throttle down the rabbit hole of second guessing everything we’re doing) gives us the tools to choose whether we tumble head first down the hole, or whether we choose a different path.
By celebrating, we’re able to say and feel “Ahhh, here is an example of when I succeeded.” Otherwise, we’re inclined to let our good old friends Self Doubt and Mind Chatter invite themselves over to the party and stay waaayyyy too long.
When we celebrate, we’re giving ourselves more positive emotions to connect with and kicking Self-Doubt and Mind Chatter to the curb.
When we focus on what we haven’t accomplished, we fail to see what we have done.
Celebrating doesn’t have to be dropping a ton of cash, booking an extravagant Caribbean vacation or even involve a great deal of time – though it can be any of those if you want, cuz’, hey, wouldn’t all of those be nice!
It can be as simple as going for a walk, scheduling a Ladies Night, going out for ice cream or dinner with your family or a friends. Maybe it’s buying yourself something small, but decadent…something that makes you smile like a new journal, that perfect color lipstick you’ve been coveting for a month now or a new book.
It takes courage to celebrate our successes.
As women, it can feel selfish or even somewhat arrogant to think we should celebrate ourselves, our accomplishments or call attention to our successes.
It can feel like we’re in a foreign land when we start to toot our own horn. We’ve spent so little time celebrating our Self and discovering our strengths we’re not quite sure how to go about doing it.
We need to toot our own horn loud, long and with gusto when we reach our goals.
Not only does it feed our soul and fill our own bucket, it makes us feel better emotionally, physically and financially. A win-win-win, wouldn’t you agree?
It also makes us better moms by modeling for our children that we realize we are also worthy of celebration. It makes us better business partners by filling us with more confidence. It also makes us better life partners by making us more empowered to walk alongside rather than behind.
Here are three tips for Celebrating Your Successes:
Set your goals so you know when you’ve hit your mark and achieved success.
Decide ahead of time what you’ll do to celebrate when you’ve hit your mark, your goal, or simply crossed a bunch off your to-to list.
Have an accountability partner who makes sure you actually follow through on celebrating – someone who will support you and hold your feet to the fire.
“If you don’t celebrate your success, it won’t celebrate you!” – Julian Hall
Do you ever feel like you’re running all week long but when Friday arrives you haven’t accomplished even half of your to-do list…and you’re not quite sure what it is you did all week?
Are there times you’re so darn busy getting things done, you don’t even see what needs to get done? You feel like you don’t even have time to lift your head to make sure you’re on the right path or totally in left field?
A clear vision of the business AND lifestyle we want is the first step in owning our day and getting out of the day to day chaos that keeps us spinning our wheels.
Having clarity around our vision and our goals is what helps us create strategy, set up systems to our day and to structure our week so that we know what we need to do each day with confidence and intention to create the business AND lifestyle we want.
In today’s video blog I’m sharing 3 tips on how to regain control of your day and your week, so that you can move out of the overwhelm and into action.
I’m going to add one more tip… get an accountability partner, say it out loud, commit to it. Don’t let fear of failure get in your way, fear being in the exact same next year as you are today.
I’d love to hear from you. What’s worked for you to regain control of your day? Post in the comments below and let me know your thoughts.
Are you ready to take control of your day, week and your success? Could you use someone who will hold your hand AND kick your butt? Click Here to apply for a complementary Clarity Call to get you moving forward with confidence and intention.
I’ve been talking with a lot of women lately about their vision for their business and what their long term goals are… and the answer I’ve been getting more often than not is, ‘I don’t know’.
As a business strategist, one of the first questions I ask is “what are your goals for your business AND for your lifestyle?” (because let’s admit, they are not mutually exclusive).
If we don’t know what it is we want, how do we create a roadmap to get there? Success will continue to elude us if we don’t know what it is we need to do each day to move our business forward with confidence and intention.
One trick I use with clients when they get stuck in the ‘I just don’t know’ is to reverse engineer. They’re usually pretty clear on what they DON’T want, so we write that list, then flip it around. For example, change:
I’m so tired of being financially strapped to: I want financial stability (then we look at what financial stability means like to them).
I’m tired of working 8-10 hours a day and not moving my business forward to: I want set up structures and systems in my day that support me in getting things done in my business so that I feel successful at the end of the week.
I really hate how little time I spend with my kids and spouse to: I want to create more quality time with my family.
I’m tired of my clothes not fitting to: I’d like to schedule more self-care in my week so I’m able to feel better, be more effective in my workday AND have energy at the end of the day.
I’m tired of always putting others needs ahead of mine and not doing what I need in my business to: I want to set clear and respectful boundaries that support me and the growth of my business.
So tell me, what’s your vision for your business? What goals do you want to achieve? Don’t know, can’t remember…have no idea how to start? Reverse engineer to design your roadmap and set your GPS
Having a clear VISION for what we want our Business AND Lifestyle to ‘look like’ (because they are not mutually exclusive) is the key in achieving our goals. It truly is the magnetic pull that creates a resistance to not be moving towards our dreams.
Without a vision for what it is we want to be, do and have, how can we create a strategy and an action plan to get there?
When we don’t have clear vision of what we want our business to be, procrastination and shiny object syndrome can easily can grab us by the ankles and keep us stuck spinning in circles. Very. Busy. Circles. (Read more about procrastination here.)
Unfortunately, it’s so damn easy to get bogged down in day to day chaos and overwhelm that can come with running a business (or family, or team, or…fill in the blank) that we lose sight of what it is we wanted in the first place. We get thrown off course and lack the clarity of where and how to go to get back on track.
It’s not always so easy to slow down, stop the train so we can focus in on what it is we want your life as a business woman to be.
Far too often when I work with a client for the first time, it takes an hour or two of digging deep before she’ll even admit what her dreams are…she’s not comfortable stating them out loud and putting a stake in the ground that declares ‘this is what I want’.
In the video below I share 3 tips to get started on creating a clear vision and start making it a reality.
What comes up for you when you hear the word structure? Does it give you a warm fuzzy feeling? Maybe you bristle and want to run the other way? Is the first word that comes to mind freedom? Probably not.
When I say the word structure to my clients, they almost always get a bit uncomfortable, look around the room and say ‘umm, that feels so boxed in’.
The word doesn’t feel so open and expansive…in fact, it can feel quite restricting.
Many of us started our businesses so that we could have the freedom to control our schedule (as well as our income) and not be confined by all the structure, rules, & confines found in the corporate world.
Yet, let’s be honest here, lack of structure more often than not leads to lack of success in our business.
Most business owners can easily get caught up in the day to day chaos of survival that they actually forget to look at how they’re building their business, what it is they need to do each day/week to move their business forward and reach their goals
When we go about our day without a plan, without a strategy, without some structure, we really do leave success to chance. And, I don’t know about you but, left to my own devices isn’t always so, shall we say, ‘productive’.
Knowing what each day holds means if needed you can move your work around so by the end of the week you know whether you’ve moved closer to your goals, or further away from them.
In today’s video blog you’ll learn some tips and tools you can start implementing today to set yourself up for success…and a sense of freedom.
As you set up structure around your work day, knowing what you need to do each day, each week, each month so that you can move your business forward with confidence and intention, you’ll start to ENJOY THE FREEDOM STRUCTURE BRINGS.
As an entrepreneur for 26+ years I can honestly say the times where I’ve ‘fallen down’ in my businesses…when overwhelm consumed me, chaos kicked in, and procrastination owned me (more about procrastination here) was when I didn’t have the structures in place, with a plan, to support me in achieving my goals.
Could you use some support (and accountability…) with setting your goals and establishing some structure so that you know what it is you need to do each day to move your business forward and create the thriving successful business you want? Give me a shout and let’s look at creating some freedom to your day. Click Here to et up your Complimentary Clarity Call.
