How to Celebrate Goals

Set your goal. Plan. Redesign your plan. Overcome obstacles. Figure it out. Do it. Celebrate.

Every goal is accomplished the same way. Every goal will have obstacles and setbacks. Every plan will need to be adjusted. Every achieved goal needs to be celebrated. I think people skip the celebration too often, and I wonder if the celebration was planned when the goal was set, if more goals would be achieved.

The celebration doesn't need to be a big grandiose thing. Getting caught up on your laundry doesn't mean you have to throw yourself a party, but now that your clothes aren't all over the floor, there might be room for dancing. So your celebration might be a quick dance party or it might be getting to wear your favorite shirt again.

You can, and you should, plan your own celebration. When you plan the reward at the end of the goal, it gives you something to reach for when you have to regroup. The celebration puts punctuation on the goal. You can move on to the next one with more confidence and with a better formula for what works.

You can, and you should, celebrate someone else's achievements. The celebration level can match the size of the goal. Say "woo hoo" for someone's empty laundry bin. Write "woo hoo" in a handwritten note for a promotion or anniversary. Clink glasses for a milestone achievement.

Celebrate in layers. Start with the spoken word, and then add the written word for a bigger goal. Add a gift or an event for the next goal level. And never underestimate the power of cake.

When I was a leader. we used to have cake for every promotion at our team meetings.The person promoting got to pick the flavor and take home the leftovers. The more often we did it, the less leftovers there were because some people came because they knew there would be cake. I didn't care if that's why they came. I was going to feed them with training while they were there.

The story on the back of Did It from the She is . . . Collection

She set her goal, mapped out her strategy and planned a victory celebration which may or may not include cake. At first, everything was going so smoothly she was afraid she might reach her goal before she made a decision about cake. But eventually the setbacks came, and after working through them, cake was a definite. In fact, sometimes the only reason she didn't quit was because cake was at stake. When the day finally came that she reached her goal, she celebrated with a cake that said "she did it." 

Celebrate every day,
Kelly