How often do you celebrate yourself?
When I ask this question, I usually get a confused face, a scoff, and a “uhh, on my birthday?”
What so many women don’t realize is that by not celebrating themselves, they’re not only harming their brain, they’re actually taking away from their self worth.
Especially when it comes to abuse recovery, celebrating yourself will teach your brain that you’re allowed to be excited for yourself. That you’re able to be proud of yourself without being put down.
Here I break down what to celebrate, how to celebrate, and I even have a free gift for you at the end!
Let’s get to partying!
What do I celebrate?
In a short answer: everything that benefits you.
I tell my clients to celebrate the little victories. But when I mention the word “victory” they come back to me with a blank stare.
When I say “victory” I don’t mean just the big things.
If you wait until the dragon is slayed to celebrate yourself, you’re not only missing out on so many big opportunities. But you’re not going to be fully prepared to internalize and be excited about slaying the dragon anyway.
There’s so much you need to do to prepare to slay the dragon.
- Find out where the dragon is.
- Map out the route to get there.
- Gather all of your supplies.
- Decide on when you’re going to start your journey to find the dragon.
- Every obstacle you have to fight through before you even get to the dragon.
- Finding the dragon.
- That deep breath before the decision to finally do it.
- Fighting the dragon.
- Slaying the damn thing.
We’ve all got that dragon that we want to slay, but do you see how much work goes into slaying it? It’s not just one action and every one of those deserve to be celebrated.
So what are you doing in preparation to slaying the dragon?
Did you empty the dishwasher? Victory.
Did you put the laundry in the washer? Victory.
Did you get out of bed this morning when you didn’t want to? Victory.
Did you contemplate not waking up today but you did it anyway? VICTORY AND I’M SO PROUD OF YOU.
There’s nothing too small to celebrate. Think about everything you do in a day that you may not think is a big deal. Write it all down on paper so you can see it.
THAT’S what you celebrate.
Prefer to watch? Here’s the video!
How do I celebrate?
When it comes to celebrating, don’t overthink it. It doesn’t need to be to be a massive party everytime (unless that’s your jam – in which case rock on!).
Celebrating might be turning on the music and having a dance party with your whole family.
Maybe it’s renting a redbox movie and getting some popcorn for a movie night.
It could be getting your favorite ice cream and making a sundae.
Maybe it’s getting a new book on Amazon (this is my personal favorite).
Whatever gets you excited, do that!
If going out to dinner does it for you, do that!
If getting dressed up and showing your gorgeous self on a million TikToks, do that!
So often we get all caught up in what things should be. It’s not big enough, it’s too big, well it wasn’t that big of a deal, blah blah blah.
Whatever you need to do to celebrate your amazingness, DO THAT.
Then when you do slay the dragon, go all out! You’ll be prepared to revel in how good it feels!
How often do I celebrate?
Don’t celebrate once in a while. Make it something you do DAILY. Even if it’s a post on Instagram sharing that you’re proud of yourself. Make celebrating yourself a habit.
It’s going to feel awkward at first. Your brain isn’t used to being appreciated so it’s going to take a bit of time.
The more often you do it, the easier it will become.
The more you do it, the more habitual it will become.
Before you know it, you’re going to be catching yourself cheering yourself on.
It’s one of the best feelings when all the sudden you’re like “Dang! When did I become my biggest cheerleader?!”
If you get consistent with this, you can quite literally rewire your brain.
The more you do this, the more your brain realizes that this is your new normal. It will begin to make more connections that solidify it as a biological connection in your brain. For more information, listen to this episode of my podcast, Confidence from the Ground Up. It’s so fascinating!
Celebrating your wins can feel extremely awkward at first, even uncomfortable. So often it’s instilled in us that we’re not allowed to be proud of ourselves. We’re not allowed to fully embrace who we are because we are told over and over again that being proud of yourself is cocky. It’s rude, it’s almost disrespectful.
But I’m here to tell you that you are not only allowed to celebrate yourself, you’re ENCOURAGED to celebrate yourself.
I know it’s easier said than done, but you’ve got this! I put together a Victory Journal template that you can use to jot down your celebrations each day.
You can print it out or use it as inspiration for your own journal. The best part is that it’s totally free!
You can grab it here!
You’ve got this, boo! I believe in you!
Leave a Reply