It’s the New Year! It’s time to celebrate!
So, how many times in a year do you celebrate?
Oh sure, you celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates. But many of these are one-offs. They happen only once a year.
What do you do on the other 364 days? Can you imagine what it would be like to have a celebration (however big or small) every month? Or every week? Or every day? You can.
Celebrations don’t have to cost money nor do they have to take time to plan.
One very important activity I am learning (and continue to learn) is to celebrate. Some pundits say, “Celebrate all wins”. Me? I don’t want to wait for the “win”. I’m learning to celebrate when I finish a task, or even a section of a project.
For instance, I celebrate every time I deposit a cheque. I celebrate every time I “do what’s hard” no matter what that is.
Many of these celebrations are “out loud”. I sing, I dance, I hum, I whistle a tune and do a multitude of other activities to celebrate.
I also celebrate (usually quietly) every time my almost-86 year old mother answers her phone.
In learning to celebrate I discovered another way to conquer Business Attention Deficit Disorder.
How?
If I celebrate the end of every task of every project, then the work involved in those tasks and projects doesn’t seem as onerous. I work with the end in mind. And the end is a celebration!
“That’ s fin”, you say,”but what types of celebrations do you have, how much do they cost and how do you prevent getting bored with your celebrations?”
My first choice for celebration is playing Kool and the Gang’s Celebration video. I have a short cut on my desktop. And I’ll be playing it once I finish this post even though I just played it because I accomplished another task.
It may sound corny but here’s how I customize the song. There’s lots of instrumentals in this song so after the band sings and the instrumental section starts I add the words “I finished <task name>” Then when there’s an opportunity while the band sings, I add “I finished <task name>”.
A MINIMUM of 10 times during the song I add in the words ‘I finished <task name>’. The combination of singing the words <I finished <task name> and dancing reinforces in the cells of my body and my mind, what I accomplished.
It makes me feel good. I have energy. My spirits are lifted and I’m ready to take on another task or project so I can celebrate again! Oh yeah, and I get up off my chair and dance too. It’s fun.
And if life isn’t fun and if work is’t fun or if I can’t do something to make the un-fun part of life and work fun, I procrastinate and avoid that part of my business as long as I can. And when I avoid those un-fun parts of my business, my business will suffer from Business Attention Deficit Disorder.
So now you know my first choice for celebrating. Try it yourself. Watch Kool and the Gang’s Celebration song on YouTube or download it onto your MP3 or iPod and next time you have a bank deposit, play the song once the transaction is complete. Who cares if you’re dancing out the door of the bank or bopping in your car? Celebrate! You deserve it!
What a great idea! You’re so right about taking time to celebrate wins, even the small ones. For 2010 I’m going to celebrate event the puniest wins … cause it’s fun! Thanks for the tips and all the best for the new year! Kathryn