Celebrate your victories

Written by

Warning: this content is older than 365 days. It may be out of date and no longer relevant.

New England Warrior Camp 2010

Ever heard someone be congratulated and their reply was “Aw, it was nothing”?

Ever listened to someone recount a tale of legitimate good work and say that it wasn’t a big deal?

Don’t ever do this to yourself. Why?

Part of our personal power is our ability to draw upon not just the knowledge but the emotion and energy of past successes to generate future success. Tap into all that was, all that you’ve done, all that you’ve achieved in order to firm your resolve against future obstacles. You know in your mind, in your heart, in your spirit that you do have what it takes to win in tough situations, that you can pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

Unless.

Unless you diminish and demean your past successes with diminishing words under the excuse of modesty. Unless you undermine your own past power by calling it nothing, by calling it a little thing, by saying that what you have done wasn’t a big deal. The words you use to describe what you’ve achieved color how you perceive those achievements. If you were trying to set up your life for failure, for frustration, for mediocrity, this is exactly the approach you’d take – amplify your failures and diminish your successes in your own mind, through your own words, and failure is guaranteed.

Modesty has its place, to be sure. One of the traits of the folks in my life who I consider to be very successful, very powerful people is that they happily acknowledge and celebrate their successes, modestly outwardly but strongly inwardly. When praised, very often their response is simply sincere thanks. When I receive praise, I copy my role models and simply express thanks and gratitude externally.

Internally is a different story. I reaffirm successes, relish the feeling of winning, and use it to steel myself against future battles. “I think I can” becomes “I know I can, because I have and I celebrate those past victories as the key to even more victory in the future!”

The habit of celebrating your successes becomes even more important when you face enemies who will seek to make you doubt yourself. If you live in the habit of saying that a success was nothing, an enemy need only encourage and amplify those words to steamroll you. They face a much tougher battle when you bear the shield of confidence built from past success (and celebration of it) and their efforts simply bounce off you. These enemies need not just be in the boardroom or on the golf course – they can be your own internal demons as well. Celebrate your successes and every additional success diminishes their sway over you.

Make sure you celebrate your successes, lest you rob yourself of the power you will need to drive even more success ahead.

Comments

9 responses to “Celebrate your victories”

December 4, 2009

DJ Waldow

Chris –

Great reminder. I think people (including me) sometimes reply with “Aw, it was nothing” out of humility or as you say, modesty <–probably the better word choice.

I try and reflect every so often on what I've accomplished. I write it down. I pull out “the list” when I need a quick pick-me-up. I also brag to people that know me really well, like my wife and my family. Modesty goes out the door. Externally though – as you say – can be tricky. I try really hard to give the sincere thanks, but too often it comes out as “No big deal. That's my job.”

Thanks for making me think (again).

DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow

Reply
December 4, 2009

david horne

celebrating your victories is wise advice. I like to also use the praise as a time to deflect some of the spotlight onto someone else and edify their contribution. Rarely are our success ours alone and the long term benefits of sharing our victories will come back to us. Thanks Chris

Reply
December 4, 2009

DJ Waldow

Chris –

Great reminder. I think people (including me) sometimes reply with “Aw, it was nothing” out of humility or as you say, modesty <–probably the better word choice.

I try and reflect every so often on what I've accomplished. I write it down. I pull out “the list” when I need a quick pick-me-up. I also brag to people that know me really well, like my wife and my family. Modesty goes out the door. Externally though – as you say – can be tricky. I try really hard to give the sincere thanks, but too often it comes out as “No big deal. That's my job.”

Thanks for making me think (again).

DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow

Reply
December 5, 2009

Ziggy

I loved it. Thought it was well written and made me think a lot 🙂

Reply
December 5, 2009

timbursch

Chris,
Good reminder. Why do we start with disclaimers? I think we have been conditioned to think little of ourselves. We make excuses for how we somehow defied mediocrity. Yes we need humility, but doing something great is okay to claim! This is a good exercise to practice in the weeks before a new year of goals.
Cheers,
Tim

Reply
December 5, 2009

timbursch

Chris,
Good reminder. Why do we start with disclaimers? I think we have been conditioned to think little of ourselves. We make excuses for how we somehow defied mediocrity. Yes we need humility, but doing something great is okay to claim! This is a good exercise to practice in the weeks before a new year of goals.
Cheers,
Tim

Reply
December 28, 2009

JNFerree

Just like you have done here, when I add new content to my Social Media Marketing Blog, I use one of a handful of techniques to stimulate my readers interest and/or throw down a challenge so as to encourage discussion, debate or something thought provoking in order to motivate my readers to do more than merely scan my article headlines and then simply click away.

Reply
December 29, 2009

Mobile Website Builder

Just like you have done here, when I add new content to my Social Media Marketing Blog, I use one of a handful of techniques to stimulate my readers interest and/or throw down a challenge so as to encourage discussion, debate or something thought provoking in order to motivate my readers to do more than merely scan my article headlines and then simply click away.

Reply
December 29, 2009

Guest

Just like you have done here, when I add new content to my Social Media Marketing Blog, I use one of a handful of techniques to stimulate my readers interest and/or throw down a challenge so as to encourage discussion, debate or something thought provoking in order to motivate my readers to do more than merely scan my article headlines and then simply click away.

Reply