The Secret to Accomplishing More

I have this little habit.

I am an overachiever.

Which, in my case, means that as soon as I achieve something, I am over it.

I have this habit of striving for a goal (sometimes for years) and as soon as I am done accomplishing the goal, and often during, I have already begun to set my sights on the next big thing.

While that keeps me on my toes and always creating new and exciting adventures, it neglects a pretty important thing.

I often (and by often, I mean always) neglect to just stop and celebrate an achievement.

And not only do I not stop to celebrate, but I have been known to diminish the accomplishment after it is achieved, simply because I have achieved it.

Sound familiar?

Almost, as if to say, “well if I did it, it’s really not that big of a deal.”

And while it’s important to not let our accomplishments go to our heads, doing the opposite is no better. It is still the ego at work, except in the role of judge; judging our accomplishments as nothing worth celebrating.

But, they are worth celebrating.

And this is why…

Celebration brings gratitude.

When we stop for a moment to really take in the bounty of goodness that we have just achieved, we make room for our gratitude of the experience.

Gratitude is important because it brings forward more of what we are seeking into our life.

Did you catch that? Because it’s worth repeating.

Gratitude is important because it brings forward more of what we are seeking into our life. Even more than just checking something off a list, and moving on to the next thing, gratitude will set a tone that allows you to effortlessly draw in more of what you are seeking to accomplish. It’s kind of a magic trick. Try it.

Celebration brings Joy.

When we stop to celebrate, we can press pause on our desire to just go, go, go…and instead, just be. Be in the moment of joy.

I used to minimize the importance of joy. It didn’t have value in my world. I didn’t see how joy could get me from point A to point B, so it had no purpose.

Now, I understand the power of joy.

I have realized that it is actually one of my ultimate goals; that joy was underneath all of the other desire for accomplishments. It was just buried really far down. I do everything I do, and probably always have, with the desire to feel joy. I just never understood that as deeply as I do now.

When I help others, it brings me joy. And primarily, I am helping others to experience more joy…who knew it would come to that? Not this Type A Scrooge. Kidding…kind of.

Celebrating your accomplishments doesn’t have to be a big to-do, and it certainly doesn’t have to involve others (or cake). It can be small and personal. As simple as a moment of reflection to really take in the experience and cherish all you have received from it.

Or it can be a public display.

Whatever suits you.

The important part is gratitude, joy and taking the moment to just be present, before you are off to your next big thing. You may even accomplish more in the process!

So, I‘m going to strive to take my own advice from now on…

I commit to celebrating my achievements before (or at least during) the beginning of my “next thing.”

And I hope you will do the same.

In fact, you can even invite me to the celebration.

I’ll bring the gluten free cake.