We don’t always give ourselves credit for the little wins we have everyday. You (yes, you) have little successes everyday that are worth celebrating.

If we only measure success by crossing finish lines, getting a raise, or climbing Mt. Everest, we might spend the majority of our lives not celebrating ourselves.

The person who can best celebrate you is YOU.

When you are in the middle of a flare and you manage to take a shower, that’s a win.

When you rally to make yourself a meal instead of another night of frozen pizza, that’s a win.

When you let someone know you could use some help, that’s a win.

You get to decide what qualifies as a win because only you know your hurdles, hopes, obstacles, and ambitions.

So, how will you celebrate your little wins?

1. Create a go-to affirmation.
   • Celebrate your little wins by acknowledging them. This might feel unfamiliar to you at first, but the more times you say it, the more you will believe it. Examples of simple affirmations could be:
     • “I am resilient”
     • “I am courageous”
     • “I am smart”
   • If you want to take a deep dive on this, think of a critique you commonly have of yourself and create an affirmation of the inverse of that. If you commonly think “I am lazy” try affirming your actions with “I am motivated.”
2. Make a visual to track success.
   • When you can literally watch how little wins accumulate, you will be able to see how they add up to big change.
   • You could do this in many ways. One simple way is to simply keep a tally of your daily little wins somewhere you will see it often. Or, perhaps you add a penny to a jar for each win and see how quickly the jar fills up.
   • This tactic might feel like a throwback to more youthful times, but it is effective and encouraging to see visual reminders of your success
3. Reward yourself.
   • The trick with this option is to choose a reward that doesn’t work against your goals.
   • One example we can all relate to is something like finally getting to the gym and rewarding ourselves afterwards with a triple-chocolate ice cream sundae. That’s not a reward that supports the initial mission of bettering our health (although tasty).
   • Choose a reward that aligns with your win. One of my favorite examples is a client of mine who would buy herself a new workout outfit for every month she kept to her gym schedule. The workout clothes made going to the gym more fun for her, so the reward further encouraged her win!

These practices may feel uncomfortable at first if you are not used to celebrating yourself. If you can stick with them, you will see how greatly your relationship with yourself will change.

Not convinced? Take a moment and imagine how your life would be different if you became your own number #1 cheerleader.

Start with the little wins.