Take a quick stop to celebrate progress, but like the little engine that could, keep chugging towards your goals.
What progress are you making towards your goals?
About 5 minutes ago, I created the first ever draft of a lead magnet for my business. Do you think I did a cheerleader-style hurkey in my office? Or picked up my husband’s old trumpet to blow my horn?
Nope. I slapped myself silly and thought - what took you so long? why is this the first-ever download you’ve created for yourself when you’ve spent years creating things like this for clients?
Luckily, the empowered side of the brain kicked in and I thought "progress.”
You see, to achieve our goals we need to:
Identify the goals
Design a plan to reach them
Make progress towards the plan
Celebrate progress along the way
Reach the goal
Start again
One of the things I’ve been advocating for my clients is to leave judgement behind and celebrate progress. Instead of saying “I should have done it faster, I should have done it better, I should have…’—take a moment and say, ‘wow, I did that. I got that done.’
Why? By celebrating progress, we’re motivating ourselves to keep moving towards our goals. We’re using the carrot rather than the stick.
By focusing on our achievements, we reconnect with our motivation—and remember why we’ve set that goal in the first place. Neurologists have been touting the power of positivity for years and this is just one element.
In grad school, I seemed to have this idea down. Between chapters of my thesis, I took the time to read a fun novel, rather than bog myself down with more academia. This little reward refreshed and renewed me and really allowed me to do a better job on the work I still had to do.
Warning: Don’t party too hard and rest on your laurels! Making progress is just one step in reaching your goal. Take a moment to celebrate, give yourselves a reward but don’t lose momentum.
Frankly, it’s easier to continue to move towards our goals when our endorphins are engaged and we’re proud of our accomplishments. Celebrating progress helps us rest, renew and move towards the next stages. And really, we feel better about ourselves.
P.S. My lead magnet will be available soon. While perfection is the enemy, I want another day or two to tweak!