Along the way to achieving our goals, there are always plenty of smaller achievements or wins but they often go unnoticed, unappreciated or viewed as unimportant to the bigger picture. However the key to reaching our big goals and keeping up the motivation to strive for them is recognizing and celebrating the small wins along the way.
Before we start – In my last blog I covered our top tips to setting effective goals, if you haven’t had a read of that yet then go check it out!
Why celebrate small wins?
We live such busy lives and are so focused on our end goal that we often forget to take a step back and reflect on what it is that we have accomplished. We may be working on a task and once we have ticked that job off we are already thinking of what is next on the list. When we are in that frame of mind not only is it easy to take for granted the great things we are achieving but when things are taking longer than we hoped for or don’t go to plan, it’s easy to feel frustrated, disheartened or even to give up altogether!
When we celebrate our small wins (no matter how small!) it helps us to build our confidence, think positively and keep the momentum going that is needed to motivate you to continue working towards your goals.
When setting your goals, try breaking them down into smaller, achievable goals. Not only will this help you have a clearer picture of your progress but it will also help you to avoid procrastinating (Let’s be honest – how many of us have put off tasks because they look too big and intimidating!).
How to celebrate small wins?
First of all, you want to find a way to track your progress and notice when you have accomplished something towards your goal. Everyone will have different ways of doing this depending on what helps motivate them or what their goal is.
Track progress – Many find it beneficial to write down their goals and what steps are needed to achieve them and then updating their list with what’s been accomplished – by doing this you can regularly take time to look at how far you have come and give you the chance to celebrate even the small things.
Reward yourself – We all like to give ourselves a treat from time to time but some of us hold out on rewarding ourselves unless it is for the bigger achievements. Now I am not saying that for every small win we need to have a big extravagant reward but we should always reward every small win with something that brings you joy as this will train your brain with positive feedback which in turn will help keep you motivated for the bigger goals!
How you reward yourself is entirely an individual choice but ultimately it should bring you feelings of satisfaction, joy and happiness. My personal favourite is reading my book in a candle lit bath with a large glass of wine but I asked the PPF team to share their favourite simple ways to reward themselves and here are their suggestions:
Cheryl – Going out for a curry with the family or opening up a bottle of bubbly!
Caroline – Sitting down with a large G&T or booking a tasty afternoon tea.
Ellie – Ordering in a pizza & watching Netflix or treating myself to some new clothes.
Grace – Taking some alone time to pamper & relax in the bath or buying some choc!
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself – We are so used to having strict deadlines with work that it is so easy to put similar deadlines onto our goals. While it is great to have a time frame that you’d like to achieve things by, having strict deadlines could lead to feelings of anxiety or failure if you don’t meet them at the time you expected. By relaxing your deadlines and going with the flow of life it will increase your happiness and motivate you to keep going!
Share your wins – We often feel like sharing with others our achievements feels like we are boasting or gloating to others so we are likely to keep them to ourselves but don’t be afraid to share your wins with those around you.
When we see others achieving their goals and celebrating it motivates us to do the same, so by sharing your achievements you will help motivate and inspire others to keep reaching their goals and will build a community of positive thinking around us. So whether you ring up a family member or mentor or shout about it on social media make sure you share your wins!
Let PPF celebrate with you!
We absolutely love it when our clients share their wins with us, we get excited for you as we see your business & life goals come to life.
We will be sharing and celebrating both our own wins and those of our clients – no matter how big or small, or if it’s business related or personal – We’d like to know! Feel free to either share your win with us or tag us in your own post – @pinkpigfinancials
If you’d like some help with setting your goals and getting started then feel free to get in touch or head over to our work with us page to find out how PPF can help you.
