Don’t you love celebrations?

I’m always looking for an excuse to celebrate something. It just feels good!

I’m a huge believer in making personal celebrations a priority. And yet, I also know it can feel a bit indulgent, uncomfortable, and even silly. The celebrations are easy when it comes to larger accomplishments like a new job, a promotion, a birthday, or an anniversary. All these are welcome and necessary…but not nearly enough to cultivate healthy self-love.

For me, a personal celebration practice has grown into a necessity. Honestly, I grew tired of waiting to be celebrated. I grew bored with one day out of the year to celebrate my own life. When I experience my confidence growing, my compassion deepening and my energy toward my goals increasing I was hooked.

The more I celebrated, the more I found to celebrate.

The more I found to celebrate, the happier my life became.

And, the happier life became, the more I flourished within myself and within every other relationship.

A celebration practice is one of the best defenses against perfectionism.

It is the human condition to continually zero in on what we do wrong, what wasn’t good enough, what we lack, and the list goes on and on. I don’t like living in that space. I don’t imagine you do either. It isn’t good for us, and it isn’t good for those we’re interacting with from day to day.

Celebration is validation that all of our moments matter whether they’re made up of struggles or achievements. Whether they are heavily weighted by imperfection or falling short.

We can always celebrate the act of showing up imperfectly instead of dwelling on what we could have done differently or better.

There is a time and place for reflection, but it’s my experience that I can offer myself a much more compassionate perspective and tame my inner critic after I’ve celebrated doing the best I could in any given situation. There are always wins, even in the margins of imperfection.

Identifying these softens the rough edges of our humanity. We become so much more authentic and perfection has no place to ground itself.

In what areas can you celebrate yourself to defend against perfectionism?

One of the best motivators for growth is cultivating a regular celebration practice.

Some days are hard. Some seasons are grueling. It’s so easy to procrastinate and not follow through. Anything we can do to motivate ourselves to show up in our life consistently is a good thing. Nobody wants to remain stagnant.

Isn’t the journey of becoming the best version of ourselves a thing to be celebrated along the way?

And isn’t this practice of celebrating that journey and all we are in the midst of it an incentive to keep showing up?

When I show up at the gym and park my car, it’s already a win because I know I’ll do what I came to do. Some days I have to check in with myself constantly and let myself know, “I’m proud of you, you got this, and you’ll feel great when the endorphins flood your system.”

When I’m done, you’ll hear something like, “Good job, you rocked it today!” Then I turn on the music and take the long way home to bask in those wonderfully happy endorphins. I could just get in the car, head home, and move on to the next part of my day, but I’m not interested in living my life on autopilot. Life’s much too short.

Where can you celebrate yourself as a means of motivation?

Confidence grows where celebration is prioritized.

One of the things I love about celebrations, particularly in others is how their eyes light up, their chest raises with a more upright posture and their head lifts to meet the celebration. That is a posture of confidence, and it thrives in the midst of authentic celebrations.

The beautiful truth is that we don’t need to wait for others to celebrate us. It’s accessible whenever and however we want to practice. The more we practice, the more we lean into the best parts of ourselves. They may be parts we discover for the first time. Each moment becomes an opportunity to become more awake and alive.

We become more sure of ourselves. Our goals have more clarity. The smallest tasks in our day hold much more meaning.

Confidence shines like a beacon to those around us. Not the kind that’s boastful, showy, or arrogant. We all know what that looks like and how it’s born out of insecurity. True confidence is magnetic, sincere, and fun. It draws people in and offers encouragement. It never waits to be celebrated and is always present to celebrate others.

Authentic confidence is nurtured in the space of a celebration practice.

What can you begin to celebrate to grow your confidence?

Your celebration practice is an opportunity to slow down and relish the ordinary moments of your life.

They are moments that only you witness. You can be fully present, and sometimes just witnessing the moment is a celebration. The more you slow down the richer the experience. I think slowing down is the best way to begin cultivating a celebration practice.

It can be as simple as listing things to celebrate each day as a way to start acknowledging celebration. Just stopping to absorb it is a celebration. Seeing it on the page is rewarding and evokes joy and gratitude. 

We begin to notice and awaken to the moments worth celebrating. We witness our own uniqueness in ways we may have overlooked before. We’re more aware of even the smallest challenges and hurdles we’ve overcome. And we practice rewarding ourselves along the way by celebrating it all. We’re grateful for it all.

Because we’re alive. Moving. Breathing. Feeling. Being ourselves.

It’s all worth celebrating – by us and for us.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to begin a celebration practice. Begin slow and watch it grow. You’ll know what you need and how to celebrate along the way. It’s great fun and so necessary. You have absolutely nothing to lose.

“Look for what’s worthy of celebrating and you’ll find it everywhere.”

And at the end of the year, throw yourself a party and celebrate the person you became through the year. You’ll be amazed!