Celebrating Success in a Healthy Life

Celebrating Success in a Healthy Life

What is the image of success that you have in mind?

Some people think that success is buying the new car, booking the 5-star holiday, going on lavish shopping trips, visiting top restaurants and living the high life. For some, success is defined by achieving professional status or the top job in their field. For others, it’s about the amount of money they have in the bank.

But I think most people are missing successes in their everyday life. There are other definitions of success, which are potentially healthier and more rewarding. The accomplishment of meaningful tasks, living a life with purpose, making an impact in the lives of others and the world, finding the courage to try new things, mastering a skill, changing habits and resisting temptation.

People often move through their lives, never celebrating their success; not because they don’t achieve it, but because they don’t recognise when they have been successful. We all have a personal definition of success and that greatly influences our perception of self and the meaningfulness or meaningless we place on our experiences. By developing your authentic and personalised definition of success, you can create healthy ways to celebrate.

“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work” 

Why celebrate success? 

There have been many studies on this topic and the relationships between emotions and success.  Emotions such as pride can lead people to achieve greater future success in their lives. Generating feelings of gratitude, compassion and pride are easier than finding the willpower, self-control and grit to succeed. Willpower can quickly deplete and, if we create emotions such as gratitude, compassion and pride, they actually become much stronger the more we use them.

By experiencing gratitude, compassion and pride when we celebrate our success, we develop greater resilience and motivation for the future; this is the power house for achieving our success. And what I love most is that these emotions are contagious; those around us become more likely to apply them when we do. We can enjoy the benefits of celebrating our accomplishments, while also encouraging those around us to achieve and celebrate their own success. How beautiful and wonderful is that? It’s as simple as that – it’s Pura Vida!

Celebrating versus rewarding

When we think of celebrating, we may think about rewarding ourselves after accomplishing a goal or a job well done. Although rewarding yourself may feel the same as celebrating, a reward suggests there is no continuation of effort in that particular task after earning the prize.

Celebrating is about an appreciation of the process, your effort, those who have supported you along the way, and where you would like to go next.

Extrinsic motivation is when we feel motivated to complete a task because we want to earn an external reward, such as a gift, trophy or money. The process of completing the task becomes more about the final outcome than the process and effort required to complete the task. When we rely too much on extrinsic motivation and reward, it can be difficult to find the energy to engage in the task itself when that external reward is removed.

Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is motivation that comes from within, rather than focusing only on the outcome or reward. This type of motivation has more to do with the process and effort of the task than the outcome. When intrinsically motivated, people will engage in a task for the joy of doing so, even if there is no trophy to be won at the end. Celebrating success in a healthy way allows us to enhance the positive emotion around our effort, further increasing our intrinsic motivation to achieve more success in our lives.

“The highest reward for your toil, is not what you get for it but what you become by it” 

My personal story of success


On 1 October 2020, my first venture, Opt HR, a HR Consultancy and Coaching company, reached a huge milestone – five years in business. Five years earlier, I took the brave and courageous step to leave my highly successful corporate HR career to embark on a journey that would test me to my limits, almost break me and, ultimately, become the making of me. I started out with just me, a mobile phone and a laptop. Today, Opt HR has proven to be a highly successful, award-winning business, which has expanded to three highly experienced HR Consultants and we have served hundreds of clients over the years. 

I took some time to reflect and thought of all of the friends I have made over the years, those who supported me, inspired me and believed in me at times when I doubted myself. I took a moment to give gratitude to all of them.

I also thought of my friends and family, who picked me up at my lowest points and celebrated the highs with me. I sent a huge amount of love and thanks to them.

And not forgetting the clients I’ve had the pleasure to work with and serve over the years; they’ve helped to make my dream and passion into a reality. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to build a successful business, again I give gratitude and pride to them too.

Along with my colleagues for their commitment, hard work and fun we’ve had along the journey, I’m truly grateful and proud of what we have achieved.

It’s important to have the balance of the extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation, and important to celebrate in a healthy way. So, I rewarded my colleagues with a beautiful meal out, along with a celebration cake and flowers to recognise this milestone. I also took a few days away, celebrated with friends and walked along the beach.

There are a few simple ways you can celebrate your success and promote motivation to continue on your journey to personal fulfilment. I will share those in my Golden Nuggets below:

Golden Nuggets

  1. Personal Reflection
    What is it that you are celebrating? Sure, winning the game or meeting your sales quota would be reasons to celebrate, but if we take away the outcome and look at the journey it took to get there, what would you want to celebrate most? Take time to reflect on things like the elements of your value system that guided your decision making, and the personal strengths that helped you achieve your goal.

Top Tip

In your reflection, you might ask yourself these questions:

  • What did I enjoy most about this journey?
  • What strengths did I use?
  • What do I feel most confident about?
  • How did I overcome obstacles along the way?

Answering questions like these in your reflection can help to clarify what it is that you are celebrating about your success. When you are mindful about what you are celebrating, you are practicing gratitude and enhancing personal strengths that could be used in future tasks. Give your celebration meaning and purpose to build confidence for the next challenge.

2. Be Present
In our fast-paced society, we seem to always be focused on the future. When we have reached one goal, we quickly move on to the next, often with no celebration at all. In fact, sometimes it can feel uncomfortable for people to celebrate their own success for fear of drawing too much attention to themselves or setting themselves up for embarrassment.

 

Top Tip

This comes down to being mindful and in the present moment. Avoid distractions and really indulge yourself within the celebration of all that you have achieved. Find the joy in the moment and honour yourself. Own your success, and thank yourself with grace and pride.

3. Nurture yourself
Celebrate in fun ways that nurture your mind, body, and spirit. Decide to celebrate in ways that speak to you and what you enjoy most. There is no right or wrong; it’s whatever resonates with you. Examples of ways to celebrate while nurturing at the same time include:

  • Dinner party with loved ones
  • Walk or jog in the park
  • Watch sunrise or sunset
  • Massage or spa treatment
  • Game night with friends
  • Start a new journal
  • Go on an adventure
  • Try a new hobby

Top Tip

An important part of celebrating your success in healthy ways is to simply take the time to do it. Enjoy your efforts, energy, and accomplishments. Include others who have helped you along the way, and remember to celebrate in ways that nurture your mind, body and spirit.

So, let’s summarise those golden nuggets again:

  1. Personal Reflection
  2. Be Present
  3. Nurture yourself 

If you have found this article useful, then please share with anyone you know who would also benefit to help them along their journey in life.

Thank you for joining me – I look forward to seeing you again next week for Pura Vida Your Life Happenings for insight, inspiration and more golden nuggets to help you live a happier and fulfilled life.

Pura Vida Your Life – it all starts with you 🧡💙💛

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Pura Vida!