Monday, August 2, 2010

Little Known Ways to Celebrate Without Busting Your Bank Account

To celebrate after achieving something is an innate nature of man. It's why we shout, "Hurrah" or "Yipeee" each time we get something we want. This human characteristic is something that isn't likely to change in the next 600,000 years. So, deal with it.

Photo Credit: 'Yipee' by Ian Boyd

Celebration feels good, right? When something feels good, you want more of it. That's right, you want more celebrations.

Conversely, you want more victories and more reasons to celebrate. One does not need to be a party goer to yearn for that ... and yearning for that is a good thing. It's what makes life exciting.

There are gurus that teach about delayed gratification. So, some people withhold celebration until after achieving their first million. In the meantime, their little victories appear to count for nothing. They starve for celebration too much that, upon getting their first million, they splurge it on the celebration.

This should easily remind us of health gurus who teach against dieting, or withholding favorite food in order to control weight. This sends a signal to the body that it is starving. Thus, after the weight loss program, the weight that has been shed off comes back in a wink.

By all means, celebrate. By all means, gratify yourself. What the gurus are saying is that you do so without squandering what you have gained.

So, how do you do that?

1. Simplify

Strip any celebration down to its core components. Know its active ingredients and simplify the recipe.

A CEO has been known to discretely insert congratulatory notes inside the drawers of his subordinates for a job well done. These congratulatory notes are written on Post-It paper. These notes are more precious to his employees than certificates printed on parchment papers. Come on, who isn't proud of a friendly handwritten note from the CEO?

An entrepreneur treats herself with her favorite chocolate candy every time she achieves something worthwhile, and then counts the wrappers. That's like counting the blessings, made tangible by the candy wrapper.

The options are endless. What options have you in your mind right now?

2. Amplify

Modern sound systems available to common listeners are wonderful. Amplifiers allow you to hear more of the voice and less of the drums or vice-versa. Some even have preset mixes that are perfect for jazz music, pop, movies or games.

Not only do we strip down celebrations to its core components, we need to amplify the core components as well. Tighten your handshake. Speak the person's name. Make use of surprises. Amplify that which gives meaning to the celebration.

In celebrating one's own victories, amplification can come in the form of sticking one's chocolate candy wrappers or handwritten notes from the CEO on one's own wall at home.

3. Solidify

To solidify means to make permanent. This means, staying in the state of bliss that has brought you the victory in the first place. Personal affirmations and visualization are a potent way of doing this.

This simply means telling yourself again and again, "I've done it once, I'm doing it again. I'm good." Then you visualize yourself into the state of bliss that has brought you victory. Recreate the experience in your mind and stay in that frame of mind as you go about your next task.

Apologies if you feel like, "What is he talking about?" I may elaborate more on what "Solidify" means in future posts.


Related Post:
Ten Tough Questions To Ask When the Going Gets Tough


CoachMarvin.com
FANNING THE FLAMES OF EXCELLENCE IN PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS

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