CELEBRATING – acknowledging and savoring the small wins
Day 7 of 30 Days of Adventure
Today, let's acknowledge the powerful little achievements that lead to greater accomplishments.
Small wins have transformational power.
Once a small win has been accomplished, forces are set in motion to favor another small win … and another small win … and another! With celebratory commitment, the accumulation of baby steps and small wins leads to larger and greater accomplishments.
So today, let's play with ways to recognize and celebrate the small wins so that they continue to generate momentum towards the larger visions of our inspired dreams!
We feel the sting of criticism more powerfully than we feel the joy of praise.
Studies show the negative effect of setbacks is often two to three times stronger than the positive effect of progress. This, in part, is because we are more likely to focus on losses rather than gains. It is the “bad things” that grab our attention, stick to our memories, and, in many cases, influence the decisions that we make. Psychologists refer to this as our negativity bias. Researchers attribute this to evolution, as our ancestors who were more fixated on their failures (and avoiding them in the future) were more likely to survive.
It's easy to dismiss small wins when we're facing setbacks.
Even the smallest setbacks and negative events can bring us down if we allow our energy to linger on them. This evolutionary survival-based bias toward the negative can leads us to pay much more attention to the bad things that happen, making them seem much more important than they really are. This tendency to overemphasize the negative can have an impact on the choices we make and the risks that we are willing to take.
Alas, we are powerful beings that can redirect our negativity bias towards a positive outcome!
So how can we overcome our hardwired fixation on failure and cultivate more joyous motivation?
To rewire our primitive fear-based survival brain, we can practice noticing negative thoughts as they arise and choose to refocus our awareness on the positives: the insights, the silver linings, and the small wins! When we notice small wins and make a point to celebrate them, 🙌 HURRAY 🎉, we increase motivation, boost performance, and improve the ability to acquire and retain new skills. This is not to dismiss negative thoughts & emotions. Rather, it is to merge with them in ways that uplift and inspire our next best baby step.
Celebrating reinforces small changes and paves the way for big successes.
Celebrating creates a memory imprint in the mind that encourages more of that inspired action. Over time, we learn to associate our new course of actions with positive emotions. Making a point to celebrate our small wins may feel like work at first, especially when the mind wants to fixate on the negatives. But eventually, it will become second nature and we'll naturally crave more inspired action and celebration.
By noticing how we already celebrate, we can more easily incorporate celebratory repatterning along our journey.
FOR EXAMPLE:
When you toss a piece of trash into a garbage bin, how do you naturally celebrate?
When you score a goal, how do you feel and how do you react?
How have you enjoyed rewarding yourself in the past?
How can you reward yourself right now for showing up for yourSelf with today's intentional session?
Let's not underestimate the power of simple “nice work!” and pat on the back.
😅 🙌
I am aware of my thoughts and emotions.
I do not let negativity get the best of me.
I merge with what is and respond in kind.
I focus my energy in ways that nourish me.
I recognize and celebrate inspired actions.
I am worthy of praise and celebration.
Let's take two minutes to acknowledge any progress (no matter how small) we've made on our adventure.
📝
Where can you recognize more small achievements to further motivate your adventurous journey?
How can you incorporate more of the ways you already naturally celebrate?
How can you immediately celebrate your small success as you adventure onwards towards your inspired dreams?
Today, let's commit to celebrating the small wins!
- Let's trust in the power of reprogramming the mind to support the yearnings of our awakening hearts.
- Let's celebrate more of the necessary, and sometimes grueling, baby steps that might otherwise go unacknowledged.
- Let's honor this sacred journey of life by celebrating ourselves in ways that bring us joy, elation, and motivation.
How about you?
How do you plan to celebrate the progress you've made on your adventurous journey today?
We'd love to hear (and celebrate with you) in the community comments!
