Celebrating the little things

Celebrating your own achievements is so important. You have to recognise your own progress and acknowledge how far you’ve come. Not only is it nice to give yourself a little pat on the back, it’s essential to keep you growing and striving forward for the right reasons. Mini-celebrations are sometimes just as important as the big ones because every big project is made up of little steps and each one of those is a milestone and a learning opportunity in its own right.

You can’t just celebrate your own achievements. You need to recognise those of the people you love. For me, one of the best ways to see if someone truly cares about you is if they’re there for you when you’re winning as well as when you’re losing. It can be a lot harder to put your own problems to one side and celebrate someone else, especially if you feel they’ve done something you want to achieve. But if you love someone, that love should be the bigger feeling and you should share in their joy and help them remember how important it is to acknowledge their achievements too. Hopefully, they’ll do the same for you too.

Here are some of the best ways I’ve found to celebrate my wins and those of the people I value most…

A NIGHT OFF

Taking a night off, to do whatever you want (for me that means Netflix and a bar of Ritter Sport) is such a great, and simple, way to celebrate a small success. So many studies have shown that the thing that makes us feel happiest is having free time to spend doing something we love, so give yourself the luxury of some breathing space. I feel like a night off is also particularly great if you’ve been working on a project or spending a bit extra time to get something right.

TREAT YO SELF

I wrote a whole post about the importance of treating yo self, but I had to put it in this list. Everything here is essentially a variation on treat yo self, but I’m thinking specifically here of the Tom Haverford style of buy yourself something nice. If there’s been something you’ve been waiting to get or wanting for a while, use a small victory as an excuse to get it. Not only is it nice to get something nice, when you buy something as a bit of a self-reward the item itself gets caught up in the victory and will act as a reminder of your achievement in the future.

WRITE IT DOWN

If you don’t want to buy something but you still want to make sure you remember the little things, write it down. Again, so many studies have shown that writing things down makes them stick in your memory so much more. So, take the time to jot them down in a diary or journal or even write a letter to your future self.

SEND SOMETHING SPECIAL

Writing it down doesn’t just work for your own wins, if you want to celebrate a friend there is nothing better than sending a hand-written note, or even a little care package filled with victorious goodies. If you’re looking for a card to put your thoughts in and to express your joy there are two in my shop that I designed just for this kind of situation: my YAY card is great for all celebrations and is one of my bestsellers, and my Number 1 Fan card is perfect to tell someone you’re their, well, number 1 fan. Making that bit of extra effort to celebrate someone else’s success is one of the best ways to show that you care.

MINI PARTY

Or, there’s always the option of going all out and throwing yourself or your friend a mini party to celebrate. That doesn’t have to mean canapes and a band (unless you want it to), it can just be having a pizza night or going out to the cinema together. You can do whatever you want as long as you’re celebrating in style.

BREAK WITH ROUTINE

If you don’t want to do anything big, just break with routine. Have a special dinner. Take a more scenic route to work. Have a morning shower instead of an evening one. Call your mum a day early. Just do something to mark it as something a bit special. If you’re celebrating a loved one, take on a task they would normally do. Do they normally cook you dinner? Put the oven on. Do they always organise group gatherings? Take the reins. Acknowledge all they do for you, and all they’re doing for themselves at the same time.

Natalie