Did you know that one of the best ways to be successful is to celebrate yourself?
Here’s why.
A Dull Saw
Steven Covey tells the story of a woodcutter in his book 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. The story goes something like this (via Academia):
Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed
to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought back 18 trees.
“Congratulations”, the boss said. ”Go on that way!”
Very motivated for the boss’ words, the woodcutter would try harder the next
day, but he only could bring 15 trees back. The third day, he tried even harder, but
he only could bring 10 trees.
Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss
and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.
“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.
“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to
cut trees.”
Staying Sharp
We often get bogged down in doing, not taking any time to appreciate ourselves. We want to be productive and take care of what’s important, but we forget how much we need to enjoy life and feel rewarded for our accomplishments. After all, how would we feel if we had an employee we never appreciated? We would feel we dropped the ball.
Celebrating yourself is not just something you do to feel good. It’s necessary to be effective. Here are just three ways you can improve when you celebrate yourself.
- Momentum: We are not robots. Feeling like a cog in a wheel slows us down. Seeing the value in what we contribute keeps us moving forward.
- Motivation: What’s the point of working hard if it never feels rewarding? When you celebrate yourself, you give yourself energy to make it to the next level.
- Maximization: It’s one thing to maintain. It’s another thing to gain. Just like the woodcutter with the axe, when we don’t take time for ourselves we miss out on opportunities to maximize our performance.
A Simple How To
If you want to be your best, you need to take time to celebrate yourself. Here are three simple steps to success that you can use to enjoy life and be overwhelmingly effective:
- Make It Fun: You can find ways to take your average day and make it fun. It’s easier than you might think.
- Add Celebrations Like Tasks: Like other successful people, you have your tasks on a list. To be more effective, put a star next to the items big enough to deserve a celebration, even if it’s just buying yourself a treat. Make sure to have the celebration and live it up.
- Accomplishment Day: Have a particular day that you use to celebrate your accomplishments each week or each month. Keep track of the big ones. Make it a big deal. Invite close friends and celebrate their accomplishments.
You are worth celebrating. When you celebrate yourself you give yourself more momentum toward a better and more fulfilling life full of excitement and adventure.
So celebrate yourself. You deserve it.
