Celebrating the small wins in our lives

In the beginning of each year, some of us take the first week(s) of January to set our goals and design our vision boards for what we want to achieve for that year. How many of those goals set have we achieved? Have we made any progress towards the achievement of those goals? Sometimes we become so fixated on achieving our goals that we forget the simple steps that we take towards achieving our goals. We focus on the bigger picture and that's why sometimes we become so frustrated and end up tossing those goals aside. We restrict our happiness by focusing on those goals because we won't be satisfied unless they are attained. There are systems or steps that we have to take to achieve our goals. Goals are not achieved overnight. They may take days,months or even the entire year to accomplish but those simple steps that we take are equally important and taking time to acknowledge these steps and celebrating the fact that we have taken a step forward is something we should adopt. Celebrating the small wins builds our self-confidence and keeps us motivated and therefore makes it easier for us to stick to our goals. Let's say for instance, you set a goal to lose weight and keep fit by the end of the year. Losing weight takes time and there are highs and lows associated with it. You went to the gym today, take time to acknowledge that and celebrate that small win. You ate healthy today, that's an achievement. You won't be perfect everyday because sometimes you might be too tired to hit the gym or you might be craving sugar. Our minds are built in a way that we focus more on the negatives than the positives. We beat ourselves up for a negative habit and forget to celebrate the positive behaviour, that's called negativity bias. The positives are what keeps us motivated so let's cultivate a habit of celebrating them.Celebrating small wins doesn't necessarily mean throwing a party and inviting your friends to celebrate. Sometimes it's acknowledging the achievement by taking time to internalize how it feels like and being grateful for the progress. It's taking a break and realising it's ok to do so because you have made a stride forward. It's acknowledging that it wasn't easy this time round but you still made it. You worked out today, take the win. You got out of bed no matter how tired you were mentally, buy yourself a cup of coffee. You went out of your way to help a friend, yeah, you can smile. You applied for another job today, take that nap. Sometimes, it's the little things that count.Mercy Wangari Karuri