Earlier this week, three awesome things happened to me.

1. I was sitting in my car waiting for an appointment and received this email from the organizers of the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, a massive one-day conference that takes place every year in the state of PA. A few months back, after encouragement from my friend Jenny Blake (she’s speaking at the conference about her new book, Pivot), I threw my name in the ring to be a potential speaker at this massive conference, whose keynotes this year include Mindy Kaling (hi, BFF!), Anita Hill, Adam Grant and more. After submitting a speaker form, months went by and I almost forgot about it, until that email on Monday. They invited me to be a speaker as part of their roundtable discussions in the exhibition hall! I’m honored to have even a tiny opportunity at this conference to share my message and be part of the day.

2. After a surprisingly brief search, I found a great apartment in my dream town. I visited on Monday evening and by Tuesday got word that my application was accepted (things are a little more complicated when you’re self-employed…a bit more financial proof to share). I’m waiting to officially sign the lease, but things are looking good and I’ll be moving there in August. *Logs on to Pinterest for apartment inspiration. Never leaves house again.*

3. One of my major goals over the past few months has been finding one additional major client- prior to that, I had two BIG monthly retainer clients and then lots of smaller clients or project-based clients. I knew I wanted to bring on one more major client to make me feel a bit more secure financially and help me to create more of a weekly schedule since I know the work will be consistent. I’ll have more details to share soon (because I am super excited about this client), but after a few weeks of back and forth and working together on a test project to see if we were a good fit, this client and I decided to move forward with working together!

I don’t tell you these things to brag or even to #humblebrag, but rather because I’m disappointed in myself for the way I reacted to these big pieces of news.

My overall reaction to these exciting things?

A quick moment of happiness, followed by a heaping feeling of anxiety and saying to myself, “Okay, no time to dwell on that…need to move on to the next thing on my to-do list.”

More specifically, here’s how I reacted to each piece of news:

To learning I was speaking at the conference? A smile when I read the email, a quick share to social media and then literally moved on to my appointment and only came back to that news the next morning when I realized I hadn’t even replied to the email to accept this awesome opportunity. Gah!

To finding the apartment? Well, signing a lease is a big deal, so obviously I was pretty anxious, especially in making such a fast decision, but also really excited. I did share the news with some family and friends, but in my head, I feel like I should have done a happy dance or ran around in circles screaming (Crazy? Unrealistic?) I’m sure it will feel more real when I begin packing, buying new things for my place and actually move, but right now, it still doesn’t feel real.

To landing the client? To be honest, I haven’t even really properly processed what this means for my business yet. When the client told me they loved my work and wanted to bring me on for a year-long contract, I felt super happy and honored, but then immediately started thinking about all of the things I need to do to make sure this works and that I do an amazing job.

GAH. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

What I learned from this week’s experiences?

We don’t take the time to recognize and celebrate our wins.

[Tweet “Why don’t we take the time to recognize and celebrate our wins (both big and small)?”]

Obviously, I am more guilty of this than others ( see above examples), but I am 100 percent positive that I’m not alone.

So why? Why don’t we celebrate our wins? Why can’t we recognize a win as a win and take even just a few moments to reflect on it, bask in it and feel that excitement? Why can’t we be silly and do a happy dance or maybe even jump up and down like a kid for a minute?

I love this perspective from Gary Vaynerchuk:

I am terrible at celebrating victories. And I believe that that is one of the biggest flaws of my being. This is probably all because I love the climb. And many entrepreneurs are the same way. If you’re all about the hard parts of business, the nitty gritty, then you’re probably not too concerned about what happens when you get to the top of the mountain. You just to get to the next battle so you can win it. But this can be dangerous.

I so agree. As a new solopreneur, each win is awesome and exciting, but it just makes me look to the NEXT big mountain I need to climb; no resting at the top to take in the view.

But this can also be a fatal flaw. I know that and I recognize it.

Not stopping to celebrate small (and big) wins can be so detrimental to morale and productivity. Not celebrating wins can quickly lead to burnout, anxiety and a feeling of being “never enough.”

In writing this post and researching why we should celebrate our wins, I *only* found articles about why TEAMS or why BOSSES with employees should celebrate wins. I found next to nothing about how as small business owners, solopreneurs or even just individuals with goals, we need to celebrate, too.

I hope this blog post starts that important conversation.

I’m working on changing my perspective on celebrating wins. To celebrate this milestone week, I’m doing a couple of things:

• I’m going off the grid for most of the day tomorrow for a spa day with my sister who just landed a major promotion.
• I’m spending the majority of next week down the shore in my happy place, Ocean City, New Jersey. With the holiday over the weekend, it’s the perfect chance to take a few days off for some celebration and reflection.
• Sometimes to celebrate a win, I buy myself something I’ve been really wanting (I know, not always the best way to celebrate, but hey, it works for me). I’ve been needing a new laptop, so I might make that purchase finally. Similarly, as one of my wins was finding a new apartment, I’ll naturally be buying lots of new furniture, etc. so I’ll likely be celebrating in that way, too.

The next time you win, please, do me a favor: Celebrate.

Do a happy dance in your car. Turn on your favorite song and sing at the top of your lungs. Do a headstand. Take yourself out for ice cream. Jump up and down. Scream it out. Call a friend to share the news. Buy yourself something nice. Write about it on your blog. Share it on social media. Take three minutes to sit quietly, reflect on the news and praise yourself. Express gratitude. Compliment yourself. Let yourself be complimented.

Over to you! Tell me, do you celebrate your wins? If so, tell me how! Share your story in the comments below.

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