Have you ever set a goal, tried really hard to reach it, but you didn’t quite hit it?  If so, what happens?  If you’re like most people, you beat yourself up over not getting there.  That feels pretty demotivating, so you might have even gotten caught in a spiral of negativity.  It’s pretty common: someone says “I’m going to cut out sugar this year” or “I’m going to lose 10 pounds this year.”  They may totally kick their soda habit, switch to stevia in their coffee, and reduce their nightly cookie.  But because they still enjoyed the occasional sweet treat, they feel like they have failed.  Or, in the second case, they may have lost 7 pounds, but didn’t hit their goal, so they feel frustrated and throw in the towel on pushing forward (maybe even gaining back 5 of the pounds lost out of frustration).

Does that sound familiar?  What if, instead, we focused on the GAIN (how far we’ve come), instead of the GAP (how far we still have to go)?

I’ll spoil it for you: what happens is a ripple of positivity and motivation!  Intentionally celebrating our successes makes us feel proud, which has a ripple effect that leads to future success.  Feeling proud of what you did achieve boost confidence, reduces the burnout and fatigue that often occurs when we’re working hard towards a goal, and releases endorphins that literally teach your brain that showing up and working hard is rewarding.  This makes you want to keep going, and helps you tackle future goals!

I know it may not come naturally for many of you (it sure doesn’t for me!), but I encourage you to focus on the positives as often as you can.  Take a moment right now to look back on 2019, and see what you can celebrate for your health, your work, your family, and any other areas you choose to celebrate.

I did just that recently, and I want to share some of The Lyons’ Share (and my personal) successes from 2019.  Enjoy this short video!

Now it’s your turn … What is one positive thing you accomplished in 2019?  I want to celebrate you!