Celebrate the Wins: A Success Strategy for Staying Motivated (Episode 55)

Celebrating wins, both big and small, is essential for fostering motivation, resilience, and overall well-being. Whether it's achieving a long-term goal like Dianne Nyad's epic swim, breaking records in a sport, sailing around the world... or showing up at the gym, finishing the degree, the book, baking a Bundt cake, signing up to take a class on a skill you desire, drinking your water for the day- whatever step forward, big or small - every accomplishment deserves recognition. 

By incorporating a framework for celebrating wins into our daily or weekly routines, we can cultivate a culture of positivity and resilience, fueling our motivation to continue striving for greatness.

19:58.  Mindfulness Practice: Celebration Along the Way

Default to YES!  (Your Extraordinary Self)

Is there a gap between where you are and where you want to be? You're not alone. This podcast is here to help you close that gap with simple, effective tools, and expert insight to create that personalized self care plan that fits your life. The life you want starts TODAY.

It's time to reimagine what's possible!

Juli Reynolds, BSN, RN is a Board Certified Nurse Coach and Aromatherapist

Transcript

1:01

Hi everyone. It's time to default to yes. Your extraordinary self I'm Julie Reynolds. And I'm your host on the journey with you? this week, the spotlight is on Oscar nominees. We. Our waiting the results, taking a movies and shows some that we wouldn't otherwise choose to watch, but are being celebrated as the best. And we might be rooting for our favorites. Some of us have already had our top picks in mind, predicting the winners, discussing outstanding performances, maybe debating the best film, And some of you might not be paying any of attention. You're off celebrating something else. March madness adds to the excitement of this, this season. Who are your favorites? It's just fun to celebrate successes and find inspiration in the accomplishment of others. So while the Oscar nominee is, might be in the forefront of our minds, we might be paying attention to breaking records. We might be watching Cole Brower As she becomes the first woman to sail around the world, Regardless of who you're following or what's inspiring, you. When people are excelling in their fields and accomplishing great things, breaking records, we pay attention because it's inspiring and it's fun to celebrate. I've been keeping up with Katelyn Clark following women's basketball more than I ever have. And watching her break the records and just a look, just having fun doing it, or so it seems. And if you haven't seen the film dyad, you are missing out on a really great story. of Diane NIAD and I was actually familiar a bit with it for years ago. And watching the film now showcasing her determination and resilience. And eventual triumph. It made me wonder, would the movie still be made if she had attempted and failed in her final? Try. So similarly I'm like watching Cole Brower's journey being the first woman to sail around the world, sail solo around the world. Would we be celebrating if she'd given up or been injured just before the finish line? After months of following and supporting her through all the challenges that she faced on her global sailing adventure. So I'm paying attention to all of these things and celebrating and being inspired. Now Diane Naiads, remarkable achievements, Cole Brower's journey. Again, to be the first woman to sail solo around the world are certainly we're celebrating and they inspire us to go for our dreams and to not allow anyone to underestimate our capacity. Or to tell us what we can or cannot do. And even in the face of impossibilities or what seems like impossible. These women faced their fears and with grit and determination did what they set out to do. We like to look at the obstacles that were overcome to make this win happen. We don't always get to see the day-to-day and the not so pretty stuff, And Maybe we need to see that too. So we know reality, but of what it takes to win. Regardless, these stories tell us inspire us to find out what we are truly capable of. And in a world that seems to prioritize the end goal over the journey. It's really crucial to remember the significance of celebrating victories, both large and small, whether it's conquering an impossible feat, like swimming from Cuba to Florida, or mastering a skill against the odds Or excelling in a sports And breaking records says Katelyn Clark has shown us. Every accomplishment deserves recognition. So while we tend to put those things up, as these are worthy of being celebrated, Unless I do these really great things break world records do these really phenomenal things and the things that I do, aren't really worth celebrating that on the same level. Anyway. every accomplishment deserves recognition but it's equally essential to celebrate the process itself. Acknowledging the effort and the dedication and the resilience that was required to reach those milestones. I was watching an interview with with Cole Brower and she was talking about. Day that she got dehydrated, you may have seen it. If you followed her story at all. there was a day where she got really dehydrated and was throwing up and just really had. A tough time had to start her own Ivy to get herself hydrated again. when she arrived. At her destination, the celebration was there. We weren't focusing on that one day, but I bet that day. She wondered if she would make it. I bet that day, she had to do some really serious mental gymnastics to be able to get back up, to start that Ivy, to get hydrated and get going again. And to keep on keeping on. So those are the moments that we need to celebrate. All of my coaching sessions, always, we always start with wins goals and obstacles. So I was asked. People to tell me what your wins were. And then we can talk about what goals are and what obstacles you expect to face. I think it's really important to focus on what obstacles we may face, or we can anticipate. And then just, if nothing else, just to acknowledge that they're going to be obstacles on the way to the win. When we overcome those obstacles, those are wins to celebrate as well. we need to put up mile markers a longer journey. And celebrate those wins along the way. Not just the end, not just the victory. But the wins along the way. So celebrating wins and supporting each other through our struggles and working towards goals together. I can strengthen relationships to and foster that personal growth. It keeps that positive communication and support. And when we get to bring in both, we're not just always talking about the struggles and how we're going to overcome them and the goals and how we're going to strive for them. But to celebrate the wins along the way. Now science backs, the notion of celebrating wins. No matter how small that they can have a profound effect on our motivation and overall wellbeing research has shown That acknowledging achievements triggers the release of dopamine. That's that neuro-transmitter associated with pleasure and reward. Which, and that enhances motivation and reinforces those positive behaviors. So your brain learns from those dopamine hits. What we want more of. So when we give ourselves more dopamine hits by celebrating things that we overcome things that we little marker mile markers along the way, So I will give you an example. So I like to like at work, we, a lot of times there are cakes or there are snacks or. Cookies on the table and there's always food and always food that I'm trying to avoid. And I caught myself saying I should get credit lose a pound of weight, Every time that I forgo the cookies. But that's not how it works, but I caught myself saying that. And the, as if. I needed an external reward for that. If it's, if I could not give myself a reward for that. And celebrate that there was a carrot cake that looked delicious on the table all day. And I did not eat it. There were crumble cookies on the table two days in a row. And I did not eat them. And I was able to do something more healthy for my body. Now I'm not judging carrot cake and cookies. Because if you want them and you eat, that's a choice and they are delicious, and those can be a reward in themselves. And I get that. So I'm not judging not saying that cookies or carrot cake are that you should judge yourself or feel bad for that. But. My personal goal was to eliminate sugar from my diet. And now no sugar added well cookies and cake. Don't align with that goal. And so by, by resisting those and not partaking in those. I was doing something that I really wanted more than I wanted the cake or cookies. So I can celebrate that win. So that's what I mean by celebrating those wins along the way. And celebrating ourselves. by celebrating, I give myself a dopamine hit just by that. So instead of the dopamine hit from the cake or the cookie or the sugar, I can get the dopamine hit from celebrating that I didn't eat the cookie. And that I preferred my goal. What I want more of. Then I did that, that instinct gratification. Again, not judging. I don't want to label food bad or good. That's going to be something you, we all get to decide what we want more of. But regardless celebrating wins will help cultivate that. That growth mindset. We'll train our brains on how to cooperate with us to get our goals. And Encouraging others to view setbacks as opportunities for growth rather than failures. So it just really sets us up to handle those obstacles and to overcome those obstacles. When we celebrate that we did, when we celebrate those things, those wins along the way. So another example, this week I left work one day and I went to the gym. And then after that I could have headed home after realizing that I only had 6,000 steps instead of the 10,000 that I thought I would have when I left there. That. And it was only there for 30 minutes, but I did it. I felt great. And I celebrated that. I showed up. One of the things that I've told myself about this the whole Wellness journey is. I will be someone who shows up. I am someone who goes to the gym. I tell myself that instead of I'm someone who gets 10,000 steps every day, or because that's where I'm starting. I'm giving attention to my health this year in a bigger way than I have in the past decades. Not letting myself off the hook for this one area of exercise and weight. As I have in the past, in 2011, I started using a wellness pyramid to check myself, and then I added the wheel of life assessment and I, I. I've talked about before, too, that I use the growth day app. And now these are all things that keep it in front of me, that I've mastered many areas of wellness and that resting and managing stress decreasing toxic load. The intellectual and social connections, Getting there with eating right consistently. But then there's this area of move more. And I've really struggled with that. So going to the gym after a 10 hour, Workday is a big win. So once I got to the car, I just mindfully acknowledged my effort, my step forward on how it felt to show up the way I wanted to show up. And I let it go about that. I don't like that. I was only there for 30 minutes. All the things that my brain can tell me. About to diminish that accomplishment. And I actually then took myself through a little mindfulness exercise to really ground in that celebration. And I'm gonna share that with you in a second too, because I know you have something to celebrate that you probably are not celebrating. And I want to bring that forward. I asked my friends, my clients, my kids. I asked this question about when someone shares something that they're excited about. I asked them, how are you going to celebrate that? And more times than not, the answer is. Or if I ask them, did you celebrate that? Or how are you going to celebrate that? A lot of times the answer is, I don't know, or not yet. And it's not something that is on the radar screen to celebrate. So I want to take you through this mindfulness exercise and encourage you. To figure out how you're going to celebrate those small wins because incorporating A framework for celebrating wins into our daily or weekly routines can really help cultivate that culture of positivity and resilience. One approach to that with some of my clients have found effective is by keeping a win journal. Where you record accomplishments, no matter how insignificant they may seem. And it doesn't have to be. Lengthy, it can be just putting it on your on your calendar or in a notepad. Went to the gym today. That can be enough to see to look back over the week and see. My week was not crap. I got up and I did the things that I said I was going to do. And I went to the gym three times, three times this week, just like I said, I'm in integrity. I'm in alignment with my goals. And that is we're celebrating. Per journals are another way to approach tracking wins and progress. That we just won't see, unless we write it down. There's a lot of research to back that our memories fail us a lot. Often in this area, we tend to remember the missteps we tend to remember or feel like we're progressing so slowly that we're not making any progress. Our brains can trick us and they don't always cooperate with the way we want to show up. So we want to train our brains in the way that we want it to take care of us and taking time each day to reflect on the wins and. Express gratitude for progress. Made for PR for the progress that you make can help foster that sense of fulfillment and motivation to keep you going in the direction that you want to go striving for excellence and defaulting to extraordinary. another important aspect of this is set up regular check-ins with yourself. Like I said, I used the growth day app and At the end of every day, I get a message. It says, journal it out. And that reminds me to go in and track my wins and maybe foresee some obstacles. Remind myself of my goals to keep me moving forward. You might want to pull in your support network and celebrate progress with your friends or your family as you set, especially as you set new goals. Whether it's a weekly meeting with colleagues or a monthly reflection session with friends, you maybe want to set up a coffee date. I've shared before that I have two friends that I meet with it and accountability every Saturday morning at six 30, we meet and we share this win struggle goal. Having that dedicated time to acknowledge achievements and share successes just helps foster that sense of comradery too. And you feel like you're all in this together, and it's really fun to celebrate with your friends along the way too. So we do that by sharing. We start every session. We're not perfect at this, but we have, we're working on getting into the routine of this, but when struggles and goals, so we might we'll share our wins. And then we all celebrate and acknowledge each other for the things that we've done in the week. The things that went well. And then we share the things that the, our goals for the next week, and then what obstacles we might face and then we'll workshop or brainstorm, or coach each other. On how we're going to approach those obstacles and get our goals for the week. But we always start with celebrating the wins. Now, additionally, incorporating rituals or rewards. For every, for reaching milestones, that was all that also can be really important. So when you set a goal, So that's a milestones out in front of that. And times that you're going to celebrate when you get to this milestone. That can give you motivation and reinforcement. I was just sharing like when, especially if you're in a weight loss journey, focusing on your bigger goal can be overwhelming sometimes. But if you set up some milestones and focus. Focus on those. So you're giving attention to the bigger goal, giving attention to your health, giving attention to the weight loss, but you're going to focus on this one goal and that might be simply. I'm going to go to the gym three times this week. And that's all you're then you're still giving attention to the larger goal, but you're focusing on the task at hand. And then you can celebrate when you do that and keep that motivation going. Okay. So incorporating rituals and rewards for reaching milestones and whether it's an. That can be all over and make this fit for you. It can be treating yourself to a favorite meal It can be an activity or. That you enjoy and allowing yourself time for that. Whatever it is, it doesn't have to be complicated, Sometimes I buy myself a book or I have something that I want, whatever it is for you. Celebrating wins with tangible rewards can also solidify that positive behavior and create that real sense of accomplishment. When you reward yourself with maybe something that you want. Once you reach this milestone, you're going to allow yourself to. To give yourself a gift. Regardless of what it is. celebrating wins both big and small is essential for fostering motivation, resilience, and really just a boost to the overall wellbeing. Whether it's achieving a long-term goal like Diane, I ads, epic swim, breaking records in a sport or sailing around the world or showing up as the gym, finishing the degree, the book. Baking a Bundt cake signing up to take a class to on a skill that you desire or drinking your water for the day. Whatever step forward, but they're big or small. Every accomplishment deserves recognition. This is the way we train our brain to cooperate with us in the way we want to really want to show up in the world. I hope you will share this episode with friends that you want to celebrate with, and they hope that you will hit the subscribe button, get on the list so that we can connect. I'd love to hear your celebrations. There's a voice recorder down below. You can get on my email list. Let me know what you are celebrating. I'd love to hear it. I'd love to celebrate with you. And I told you that I was going to share the mindfulness. Exercise with you that I go through So we're going to do that next. And so you can hang in there. I'm also going to separate that out into a bonus episode so that you can easily find it later if you want to come back to it I hope you'll try that out and let me know what you think. And if it was helpful, However you go about it. I hope you are celebrating today. because by incorporating a framework for celebrating wins. Too, by building that into your routine, into our daily or weekly routines. We can cultivate a culture of positivity and resilience. We have fuel that motivation and continue striving for greatness. To continue to get up every day and default to yes, your extraordinary self. Okay. Now I'd like to invite you to find a quiet and comfortable space. Where you can sit or lie down without distraction. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Just allowing yourself to relax and let go of any tension in your body. In through your nose. And out through your mouth. You may want a smile. Or just relax and breathe. Reflecting on your recent accomplishments, both big and small. These winds could be related to work. Personal goals. Or relationships or any other area of your life? Just take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate each achievement. Each step forward. No matter how insignificant they may seem. As you reflect. Notice how these winds make you feel. Allow yourself that sense of pride. Satisfaction and joy. That comes with recognizing your accomplishments. You took a step forward. Take as much time as you need just fully immerse yourself in those positive emotions. Next. Express gratitude for the wins you've experienced. Recognize the hard work and the dedication, the perseverance that went into achieving these successes. Acknowledge your integrity. You kept your word and you did it. Take a moment to thank yourself for the efforts. And the commitment. Think of any one who supported you and encouraged you along the way. As you express gratitude. I feel that sense of warmth and appreciation radiating from your heart. Allow yourself to fully embrace these feelings of gratitude. Knowing that they can uplift and inspire you as you continue on your journey. Now take a moment to visualize your future successes and accomplishments. Picture yourself, achieving your goals and fulfilling your dreams. One step at a time. Imagine the joy. The fulfillment. And that sense of achievement that will accompany each milestone along the way. As you visualize your future successes, feel that sense of excitement and anticipation building. Allow yourself to connect with the limitless potential that resides within you. Knowing that you have the power to turn your dreams into reality. Finally affirm your worthiness of success and happiness, repeat positive affirmations. Like I am deserving of all the good things that come my way. Or I am capable of achieving my goals and fulfilling my dreams. Let the affirmation sink deep into your subconscious mind, reinforcing your belief in yourself. And your abilities. As you affirm your worthiness, feel that sense of empowerment. And confidence rising within you. Knowing that you are inherently worthy of all the blessings and abundance that life has to offer. And that celebrating your wins as an essential part of honoring your journey. Yeah. Now take a few more deep breaths. In. And out. Gradually bringing your awareness back to the moment. In a wiggle, your fingers, your toes. And when you feel ready. Gently open your eyes. And carry the feelings of celebration and gratitude and empowerment with you as you go about your day. Remember that celebrating your wins is not only a joyful experience, but a powerful practice. That can inspire and motivate you to continue striving for greatness in all areas of your life. To keep you getting up every day to default to your extraordinary self.