Creating Your Personal Victory Log
Celebrating Every Success
What does it take to make you jump up and down with excitement? I know. It’s an unusual question. It’s more than likely that you haven’t felt like expressing yourself in an uninhibited outpouring of exuberance since the far-off days of your childhood. And, when you think about it, the fact that you don’t allow yourself to really celebrate might reveal a great deal about the way you’re living your life. Sure enough, you’re always ready to feel stressed and anxious, frustrated and tired. But jumping up and down with excitement? That’s something you might’ve forgotten as you roll out of bed every morning and steel yourself to shoulder the burden of your daily responsibilities.
So, this might be a perfect moment to consider a subtle but far-reaching change in your behaviour. This could be the day when you create an opening in your habits and discover how wonderful it can be to introduce the joy of celebration into your daily routine.
But let’s begin by asking ourselves why this change in behaviour is so important.
The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.
– Oprah Winfrey
We’re conditioned from early childhood to become serious, responsible adults. The role models we adopt tend to be very serious, stressed and they often display signs of constant fatigue. This is the behaviour we associate with being grown up. As the years roll by, our shoulders become more stooped with the pressures and strains of daily life and we feel the weight of the years pressing down on our necks and backs. Not much room for joy in this typical snapshot of adult behaviour, is there?
The problem with this mode of living is that it places an unnatural emphasis on the inevitable challenges, difficulties and setbacks that always occur during the course of a normal day. That’s life. That’s how it is for almost everyone. But when we concentrate on the pressures and problems, we develop a kind of selective blindness that ignores many of the more positive aspects that can make life so much more enjoyable. Our perspective suffers from an unusual distortion that effectively blanks out the opportunities that flow across our pathway. We narrow our vision and see only one difficulty after another.
One should never, but never, pass by an opportunity to celebrate.
― J D Malouf
That’s why it’s so important to broaden your perspective and actively seek out fresh opportunities as well as the obvious evidence for celebration. It’s all a question of perspective.
It’s amazing how easily we focus on our weaknesses, failures and defeats. But how often do you actively challenge this viewpoint and raise a toast to your victories? That’s where we’re going to introduce some changes. It’s certainly the right moment.
One of the easiest tools that you can create to change your perspective is a personal Victory Log. This is a list of everything you’ve ever achieved since you were born. It might feel uncomfortable at first because we’ve been conditioned to acknowledge our weaknesses without accepting our strengths. But the experience of listing everything you’ve accomplished can begin the process of changing how you think and feel about yourself.
There are many examples from the world of business where extremely successful individuals routinely run through their personal Victory Log before attending a meeting or a negotiation – because it puts them in the frame of mind of a winner. Their attitude is shaped by the expectation of success. And, as you might expect, it works.
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours.
It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
- Buddha
This process of recognising your fuller potential as well as your capacity to achieve great results helps you to feel empowered. The answer then is to develop a daily habit of identifying all the good things you do and the accomplishments you achieve. It’s a very positive form of behavioural reinforcement to reward yourself for achieving anything that strikes you as particularly significant. The reward you choose will function as a powerful incentive to do whatever’s necessary to bring your goals to fruition. Each significant step along the pathway deserves to be recognised and suitably rewarded. Even if you give the reward to yourself. A celebrated billionaire would reward himself with a new pair of shoes whenever he concluded a successful deal. It wasn’t the value of the shoes that made the reward significant. It was a gesture that he closely associated with victory. You’re free to develop the same principle for your own successes. The important element here is that you find a fitting way to celebrate every success until the feelings of being capable, empowered and victorious are part of your daily experience.
The best time to celebrate is – whenever you can!
So, make this your day of celebration. Make a point of identifying each of the many small victories that will combine to pave the way to your success. Choose to celebrate your life and all the opportunities you encounter. Open your heart to the power of celebration. Taste the sweetness of victory. Notice the difference in the way you think and feel as you introduce the positive energy of celebration. Feel free to let your excitement animate your senses. It’s the perfect antidote to the weight and responsibility you’ve borne so heavily for too long. You’ll find that your life feels easier and your responsibilities sit more lightly on your shoulders as you free yourself from the old, negative mindset that only noticed the problems and difficulties. Now you are free to see your life in an entirely new and fresh light. Let’s raise a toast to a truly magnificent future.
Are you ready for a completely fresh approach to life’s great adventure? Get in touch with us today for a free session to discover how the growing global movement for personal growth, success, change and empowerment can enhance your life. It’s fun and it’s surprisingly effective. Perhaps it’s time for you to discover how you can enjoy your life on a whole new level of happiness and wellbeing.
Greg Parry created The Wellness Foundation and the Cognitive Empowerment Programs specifically to help people master their stress, overcome their limitations and explore the power of their true potential.
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