Milestones matter

In the rushed hustle of daily life, we jump from one task to another without pausing to recognise and reflect on our accomplishments. Big or small, our achievements can go unnoticed when we focus too much on the next hurdle to overcome. Whether it be personal, professional, or academic, celebrating our wins helps to improve self-esteem, encourages motivation, and builds resilience.

Helps to improve self-esteem

Celebrating and acknowledging achievements is fundamental to keeping imposter syndrome at bay. Imposter syndrome is a pattern of behaviour riddled with self-doubt in which individuals are unable to internalise their success. Instead, many with imposter syndrome will attribute their achievements to luck or other external factors.

By celebrating our achievements, we reinforce our identity to the pesky voices of self-doubt that can often linger in our mind. In doing so, we remind ourselves of the success we achieved through our own capabilities, ensuring our self-esteem does not weaken from self-doubt.

Motivation

Another benefit that the celebration of achievements has on our mental health is the role it plays on motivation. There is a widely-held misconception that getting “too” excited about small wins can influence an individual to be lazy and not put in consistent effort. This misconception is rooted in the idea that consistent effort requires a robotic and monotonous lifestyle in which the focus should be on the next step forward.

However, I beg to differ. Recognising our accomplishments creates a sense of self-satisfaction, triggering a positive feedback loop to encourage the setting and pursuit of future intentions. If we allow ourselves to take a moment and feel satisfied in our accomplishment, we trigger a cycle of motivation that reminds us of how good success feels.

Builds resilience

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t; you are right”.

This is one of my favourite quotes of all time and it rings loud in my mind when self-doubt creeps in. The power of what you believe and how you perceive yourself is immense and has the ability to influence so much.

When we focus on our accomplishments, acknowledging and celebrating them, we remind ourselves of what we are capable of achieving. With every new challenge, hurdle, or setback, our previous wins settle our self-doubt and remind us that we can get through difficult times. When we remember what we have achieved, we have little reason to think that the next challenge is impossible to overcome.

No matter how big or small your accomplishments are, they deserve to be celebrated. As with setting intentions and planning for the future, reflecting on the present is equally important. We believe in ourselves best when we remind ourselves of what we are capable of.

With warmth,

Ruchi.