Celebrate your successes--large and small

In my last post, one of my readers commented about the promises she makes to herself. She mentioned that one recent one was contingent on whether or not she lined up another large project.

I stopped at the word "large" and wondered out loud: Why does it have to be large before she can collect on her promise?

I'd like to suggest to those of you who are waiting for the right time to celebrate that the time is now. Right now is the time to be your own cheerleader.

Consider the Staples "low price" commercial. This guy comes into the store, stares at the price on an item and yells out, "Wow, that's a low price!" Even his body movement is exaggerated. "Wow, that's a low price!" He does this several times, to the point of being obnoxious, until someone else chimes in. Someone else finds his excitement worthy of repeat. They're celebrating Staples' low prices together.

It seems silly on the surface, but it makes you laugh. And it's a good example of celebrating small successes. Low prices at Staples are a cause for celebration? Who knew? But the actors in the commercial do a really good job of pulling it off. Their enthusiasm is contagious. By the end of the commercial, you're yelling out, "Wow, that's a low price!" as well. It's funny, and you get caught up in the excitement.

It's what I think of when I think of my own small successes. When you begin to see even your small accomplishments as cause for celebration, you're training yourself how to self-motivate. You don't have to go out and spend big bucks on what looks like the small deals if you think that's overdoing it. You don't have to scream them out in a public setting. But you certainly can spread the word. Even if it feels odd or awkward, others will see it differently. Your friends, your family, your colleagues will pat your back with you.

One of the wonderful things about sharing successes with others is that you realize that your small deals may be big deals to others, and they'll want to know about them. Everyone wants a cause for celebration, even if it's not their own.

Today's Action Step
Take a moment and celebrate what you've accomplished today. I'm not talking about an invitation-only party. There's not even a need to write anything down, but it can help. The celebration I'm referring to is about changing your internal dialogue. So pause for a few moments at some point during the day and consider what you've accomplished. Whether it's that you paid your bills on time, washed the car, drove the kids' carpool, closed a sale, or cleaned the house, those are big deal things to someone. Why not let it be you, and why not share it with others?

I lift my coffee cup to you and your successes! May there be many more to come.

Inspired by visuals

I'm a person who likes and benefits from visuals.

I didn't do my best in school if the learning environment involved only lectures. I needed handouts. I needed movies. I needed books and reading assignments. I needed interaction. And I always had to write things down if I were expected to remember anything taught in class. I've not changed much.

It's probably why I collect so many things. I have thousands of matchbook covers, about the same number of books, and I love to play cards (solitaire and other games) so have amassed quite a collection of playing cards over the years, with different kinds of imagery on them. Visuals remind me of things, of places I've been, of people I've met, of things I want to do, of things I've accomplished.

In fact, I keep a string of racing numbers tacked on my office wall to remind me that I can run and have run several races, and if I want to, I can do it again. These are not huge races. I've never even come close to winning one of them. But, since 2004, I have run in more than a dozen 5ks, and to me, this is an achievement. If you knew how terribly unathletic I was in my younger years, you would know what I mean. Me? Run a mile (let alone more than one)? Out of the question!

To mark this achievement, I've brought home most of the numbers that had once been pinned on my t-shirt. They are made of the same kind of paper as a FedEx mailer and are pretty durable. Instinctively, I decided to pin each of the numbers together, create a string of them, and hang them on my office wall--to use as a visual.

After I started riding my bike in 2002, I learned I had endurance. I didn't and have never had much speed, but I developed endurance. And I like to be reminded of that. Aside from my actual bike and all the bike memorabilia I now collect, this is another visual that reminds me of what I'm really made of deep inside so that I know that I can reach the finish line in other things as well.

Do you use visuals to mark your achievements? Do you use visuals for other reasons? If so, in what way? Share with us how it's helped you reach a goal.

Recovery: Celebrating you

I truly believe we are all in Recovery. Every one of us.

Think about it. We've all suffered setbacks. We've all had to deal with trying times. We're all faced with challenges--almost all the time. Most of us would be out of work if this weren't true. Innovation comes from a challenge. New therapies stem from personal dilemmas. Researchers everyday spend time in labs to find the answer to a pressing need. We're all in Recovery. Or maybe that's the way we should be operating, because it implies that you're taking responsibility.

I tell my life stories here at BIKE WITH JACKIE, and they're not always pretty. I do it to let you know that it's okay to be real and raw. I've learned from my own relationships with people who hid who they really were that you can't be intimate with them. You can't trust them. You can't rely on them. And you can't be real with them in return. That's a much larger loss than the eventual breakdown of the relationship itself.

So my mission in life is to help other people get real with their life challenges, to admit them, and then to deal with them, simply because they stop us from moving forward. To accomplish my mission, I teach, sometimes indirectly, how my spiritual navigation tool (the mental BIKE) can be applied to your life. This is briefly explained at the top of this page.

But, basically, I spend time here sharing the lessons I learned from the seat of my bike, lessons that are never-ending. I continue learning new ones, as we all do if we're paying attention, because Recovery IS on-going. It's what we do while we're living life. It's only when we stop living that Recovery ends.

You see, for me, my special brand of BIKE represents rebirth, growth and most especially moving forward.

To do that, I've learned one most important lesson: You must celebrate your successes. Your successes, no matter what they mean to anyone else, are your big deals. They deserve the attention they've earned. And that what's today's post is about: celebrating you, celebrating your successes.

With that, I'd like to announce my most current one:

I just found out my book (pictured above with a goofy grinning me beside it at Barnes & Noble, Kierland Commons, taken by my friend Rebecca A. Allen) is doing so well that I've earned half of my advance already--in just three months!

That's a pretty good track record, folks--one that had my publisher sending me a Royalty Statement a year before I was expecting one. When I opened that letter yesterday, I was pretty darn happy. I know I've been working hard to sell the book, to pitch the book, to get the word out, but I had no idea I was doing that well--not until my publisher told me. So I celebrated. I shared the information with a neighbor, and she popped open a bottle of wine, and we toasted. Then my boyfriend took me out to dinner. And now I'm celebrating here, by sharing the message with you.

Here's why it's so important: Ten years ago, I certainly didn't think I could ever write a book. It would have been too overwhelming a task for me. I know. I tried. I was assigned to do a chapter of a travel guide for a publishing company, and I had to turn the project back in. I had to give up on the job. For personal reasons that were going on in my life that I didn't even know existed, I just couldn't do it.

Clearly, that wasn't the greatest moment in my life. But when I was able to put that behind me and forgive myself that part of my life, the world and all its possibilities opened up again. I began looking for them, seeing them and embracing them. So the travel guide pictured above became yet another symbol. It, too, relates to my BIKE message, which empowers you think differently about yourself. For one thing, you'll be able to recognize when your "tough hill" is ahead, and you'll know you can climb it anyway, because:

You can make mistakes and overcome them.

You can be a better person than you thought you were.

You can do much more than you ever thought you could.

You can choose to associate with people who will help make your dreams come true.

You can change your mind and create new dreams.

You can grow yourself physically, no matter how out of shape you think you are.

You can grow yourself mentally, no matter how doomed you feel.

You can celebrate your successes, because you've earned them.

And your success deserves your respect. It's great when other people celebrate with you, but that's not the important thing. The important thing is that you celebrate you.

So, let me ask you? When was the last time you gave yourself this gift? Write it down here so we can watch you shine.