In this PLPT guest post, Lilou of the inspirational blog, Push and Soar, reminds us to celebrate the small victories in life.
For a few years, I had found myself on a quest to find my direction in life. My chosen field of work simply didn’t feel like the right fit for me. So I decided to move on and explore other options. As I was on that journey, I spent a lot of time soul searching, learning about myself, exploring different options and working hard. But no matter what I did and how hard I worked I just felt like I was not progressing and that all my hard work was in vain.
I mentioned this issue to someone in a conversation and she offered the idea that I was indeed progressing but was not acknowledging the progress I was making. So she suggested that I celebrate everything I accomplish even if it’s small.
After pondering about this, I decided that at the end of every month I was going to have an end-of the-month-review with myself and write down all the things that I accomplished just to see if my journey was really stalled. And so I did, and was able to see all of my progress in black and white.
This process showed me that I’m constantly progressing and achieving but I was taking it all for granted because I had not yet reached my ultimate goal. Progress to me then was about reaching big goals. But I now understand that it’s about all the tiny steps that take you to that ultimate goal. Progress is about the journey.
Pat yourself in the back and celebrate your small accomplishments. Doing so means that you feel gratitude for even the smallest steps of your journey. If you learn to appreciate the small things then you will be able to have an even deeper appreciation for the bigger successes.
Your journey is not stalled. As long as we’re alive, we are constantly moving. There are times where you might even feel like you’re moving backwards but if this happens find a way to bounce back and remember that even this sometimes is a necessary step. It’s all part of the journey and at the end of it all you will learn, grow and become stronger. After all why wouldn’t we acknowledge that which gave us strength and helped us grow?
Appreciate your journey even in the hardest times, even when you feel as though you’re treading water. And remember to celebrate all of your small victories because it’s through them that our biggest triumphs arise.
Photo via Pinterest
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Push and Soar was created by Lilou, a visual artist who really understands the benefits as well as the struggles of working outside of a traditional 9-5 job. Thus she created this blog as a way to address these concerns as they pertain to herself and let others know that they are not alone on this journey to live their passion.
4 comments:
love, love love this! I've also been told I don't give myself credit for the steps along the way.
I wrote a blog post recently about Getting Started (re: moving toward your goal), and I realize that a lot of times, what has kept me from starting is that my tendency is to ONLY focus on the big goal at the end. And so in order to start, I have to have incremental goals - accomplishments to celebrate, so that I feel it's doable. I've tried to be more intentional about seeing (and celebrating) those steps along the way. I love your end-of-the-month review ideaa!
I read something somewhere once that said "baby steps are still steps."
Thanks Danielle! I appreciate your comment and I'd love to read your blog post.
I guess when we make a goal for ourselves, we focus on it so much because of how badly we want to achieve it and we get impatient about the process. But like you said it can stop people from starting at all because of how big it seems. So you're totally right about the incremental goals. And also it's through the baby steps we acquire all the tools and resources, all that we need physically, mentally and emotionally to really be in a place where we are ready and able to get to the big goal. So the baby steps are important because they lead us and prepare us for the big goal.
loved this post it was really inspiring... i needed to read this today, thank you :)
You're very welcome Adwoa and thank you for your kind words. I'm so glad this has helped you.
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