Busy women over 40 live a CHAOTIC life, speaking from experience, I understand that far too well. From managing all of our responsibilities to being the best we can be for our loved ones, sometimes life can get hectic, trust me I get it, I’ve been there.
But something that has really helped me stay motivated, accountable, and enjoy the journey is celebrating my wins, especially in my fitness journey. However, where most women go wrong is they only celebrate their big wins. But the fact is, by also celebrating your smaller wins you're able to build much more momentum, and motivation, and your fitness journey becomes a whole lot more enjoyable.
I understand that your wins can be overlooked when you’re so busy, that you don’t have enough time to celebrate them, right? Or maybe your next goal is now the new focus?
Celebrating both big AND small wins is crucial for your fitness journey, and this blog will explore the reasons why they matter, how you can actually celebrate them, and how they benefit your fitness journey.
Let’s begin…
Why Celebrating Wins Matters
Celebrating your wins is crucial for long-term success with your fitness journey, it has been very beneficial for me and the women that I coach. Here are 4 reasons why…
Boosts Motivation and Morale:
Recognizing your achievements gives you a sense of accomplishment and motivates you to continue, it’s not only a reminder of how far you’ve come, but also it helps you identify what you’re capable of achieving.
Celebrating your wins reinforces the positive behaviors that led to those successes, in some ways, it gives us relief that all of our efforts weren’t for nothing, and it’s important to acknowledge that.
Enhances Self-Esteem and Confidence:
Celebrating and acknowledging what you’ve achieved allows your confidence to grow for future challenges and goals, it helps you feel capable and strong to push for larger goals in the future.
Having the mindset of “Go! Go! Go!” and overlooking your goals may seem like a good idea short term, but by doing this you’re not growing your confidence for future challenges. Taking time to celebrate your wins and acknowledge how far you’ve come may be more productive long term.
Positive Reinforcement:
Rewarding yourself for consistently working out, for example, can make you eager to continue working out. It’s the same with any other win, by celebrating it you're reinforcing that what you’ve done is incredible, which then maintains similar habits moving forward. Make sense?
Positive Reinforcement strengthens the behaviors you want to continue, by celebrating success you’re more likely to repeat the actions that led you to those wins.
Positive Mindset:
Celebrating wins, no matter how small they are, allows you to shift your focus from what you haven’t achieved yet to what you have, this can reduce stress, anxiety, and overwhelm. By doing this myself, I’ve managed to make my fitness journey much more enjoyable.
How to Celebrate Your Wins
But how do you actually celebrate your wins?...
Set Milestones and Track Progress:
Break down your larger fitness goals into smaller, achievable milestones, and track your progress along the way regularly to see how far you’ve come.
You can use a journal, or an app to record your progress, remember to celebrate each milestone you reach no matter how small it is.
Reward Yourself:
Treat yourself to something special once you reach the milestone, I recommend choosing a reward that aligns with your overall goals. For example, something that makes achieving your goals either easier or enjoyable.
Share Your Success:
Share your success with your friends, family, and your community of other women. Receiving their support, love, and recognition boosts your morale and sense of accomplishment, helping you achieve future milestones.
Not to mention, sharing your success can inspire others which can be very fulfilling.
Reflect On Your Journey:
Take time to reflect on your progress regularly, look back at where you started, and appreciate the improvements you’ve made. It doesn’t matter if you’ve only just started, small changes are still changes at the end of the day!
I recommend scheduling regular check-ins for yourself and your goals, either weekly or monthly, whatever resonates with you the most. But with each check-in, review your journey, acknowledge your improvements, and celebrate your growth.
Benefits Of Celebrating Wins
Regularly celebrating your wins keeps you motivated higher than if you ignored your achievements. I understand you constantly want to make progress, and taking time to acknowledge your achievements may seem like “slowing down”, but I promise that celebrating even the smaller wins you have it will be SO much more beneficial for your well-being and fitness journey.
By celebrating your achievements, no matter what they are, fitness goals, other personal goals, you can reduce stress and boost your mood. Your overall mental health can be boosted, and provides you with a mental break, allowing you to enjoy what you’ve worked so hard for.
PLUS! Celebrating your wins is beneficial for building resilience, equipping you to stay on track when facing future obstacles and challenges.
Common Barriers to Celebrating Wins
Despite the clear benefits, and understanding of how to celebrate your wins, many women struggle with acknowledging their achievements and wins, and it’s mainly because of these barriers.
Understanding and overcoming these barriers allows you to celebrate your wins and enjoy your progress.
Perfectionism:
Perfection is unattainable, so stop striving for it! Progress is worth celebrating, even if you didn’t do it perfectly.
Here’s what you should do. Set small achievable goals, which you know you’ll be able to achieve, as achieving them will boost morale and motivation.
Self-Doubt:
Self-doubt can make it difficult to celebrate your wins and achievements, you may doubt that your progress is worth celebrating, or significant.
But you should journal your accomplishments, regularly reflect on your journey, seek feedback and encouragement from mentors and your community.
Judgement:
The fear of being judged by others can prevent you from celebrating your success, you may worry that others will view your celebrations as arrogant or unnecessary. You may be surprised with how many people experience this!
But focus on the value of celebrating your wins, re-read the benefits above, and remember celebrating your wins is beneficial for you and your future, you’re doing it for yourself and your journey, not anybody else's validation.
Strategies to Overcome Barriers
Mindfulness Practices:
Incorporate mindfulness practices such as meditation, deep breathing, yoga, or anything that you enjoy, and brings you happiness. The reason for these practices is to appreciate the present moment and dedicate time to appreciating the steps that you’ve taken.
Setting Realistic Expectations:
Earlier in this blog we touched on perfectionism, and again that is unrealistic. When you set a milestone that you want to achieve, please ensure that it’s realistic. Frequent celebrations of small wins can go a long way in building motivation and momentum.
Regular Reflection:
Make it a habit to reflect on your progress regularly, maybe journal it constantly, and look back at it every week. Don’t forget to document your journey, especially when you first start, as they’re the most important parts to document!
Overcoming barriers to celebrating your wins are more important than you realize, really take everything I’ve said into consideration. Make celebrating your wins a regular and fulfilling part of your fitness journey.
Conclusion
Celebrating your wins isn’t just to help you feel good, it’s a vital component of any successful fitness journey, and I really recommend it. Acknowledging your achievements and celebrating them will boost your self-esteem, motivation, and accountability for achieving future milestones!
No matter how small your wins may seem, reflect on them, reward yourself, and don’t let barriers prevent you from celebrating them. Every achievable milestone is a step towards your main goal, and that deserves to be celebrated.
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