Learn to pause, reflect, and harness your accomplishments into a driving force that unlocks sustainable resilience and personal and professional growth in 2025.
I have a question: How often do you celebrate your accomplishments?
Don’t laugh!
Seriously. How often do you pause and celebrate all the amazing things you do from January to December?
Over the years, I’ve realized that we rarely take the time or make the space to recognize and reflect on what we’ve accomplished in the previous 365 days. A lot of us are so busy thinking about our plans and goals for the next year that we skip over the really good stuff that’s already happened (or is still happening).
This is why using the power of the pause is extremely important.
If you don’t know where you’ve been or what you’ve done, it’s hard to plan—and tough to thrive.
Celebration helps us keep going—even when it’s hard—and is key for building resilient teams.
Every day, (and each month!) I make time to celebrate small wins, whatever they are. Each December, I purposefully give myself grace and space for self-reflection of the previous year. I intentionally make time to look back and celebrate my accomplishments, both personally and professionally, on a deeper level. Some are big and flashy; others are smaller and less visible. I reflect because it’s a crucial part of my business plan, and it’s absolutely essential to building Unstoppable Momentum.
It’s easy to rush through life and forget to find or focus on the joy. We often beat ourselves up because our inner bully says we should have done more.
Repeat after me: Every step forward is a win! The size of our wins doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we always have something to celebrate – no matter how “small” it may appear at the time. And this includes any so-called “failures” because we learn and grow from them (win and win!)! This is what it means to fail forward. To keep going. To grit up not give up.
For all of you who tend to look back at the last week, month, or year and focus on all you didn’t get done, I see you. Take this moment with me to stop, shift, and reframe. Take a moment to amplify all you DID accomplish, all you DID receive, and all you DID experience. I guarantee it’s more than you think—and the more you celebrate the “DIDs,” the more room you make to DO.
Let me show you how to reflect and celebrate your wins so you can thrive in 2025.
Amplify Your Joy
Celebration is key to creating sustainable resilience and Unstoppable Momentum. It’s why acknowledging your achievements—big or small, professional or personal—is so monumental. One way I celebrate accomplishments is through my Joy-O-Meter exercise.
Here’s how the Joy-O-Meter works: I go through every image on my phone (minus the blurry ones) and make a list of people and things that brought me joy in the last year (and each month!). I ask myself:
- Who or what brought me the most joy?
- How do I create more joy moving forward?
- Who or what didn’t bring me joy?
- What didn’t work?
This simple exercise helps me recenter and reminds me of joy—even in the hard times—and allows me to create a safe space to celebrate.
I celebrate the things that bring me joy.
I celebrate the people who bring me joy.
I celebrate smilestones.
For 2025, I’m encouraging you to use the Joy-O-Meter practice. Challenge yourself to do the exercise before January starts … and then see if you can keep it going!
Now let’s dive into my three tips to help you reflect and celebrate your year.
Tune in with Your Tools
Hot take: Your phone is a tool that perfectly captures where you’re spending your time, money, and energy. It offers a contextual lens that provides key insights into what your achievements look like in real life and real time.
As you review my three favorite ways to reflect and celebrate wins, consider these prompts:
- What did you do this year?
- What did you love?
- What would you do differently?
- What did you learn? (About yourself? About others?)
- What was your return on your investment (time, money, energy)?
This year, I’m challenging YOU to pause and reflect on all the fantastic things you’ve done. All you need is your smartphone. I’ve used these important “What Really Matters” tools for years.
1. Go through the photos on your phone.
As you scroll your hundreds (or thousands!) of images, note what you see. Get into a mindset that allows you to understand what your photos are telling you. Who are they with? What do they say? Is there anything that you don’t see or would like to capture more frequently? Use your images to shape your story of 2024 and create space for what you’d like to see in 2025.
2. Look at your calendar.
Flip through your paper calendar or pull up your Google calendar. Review your day-to-day schedule. Were there any big projects that you accomplished? What activities or hobbies did you enjoy throughout the year? Where did you spend the majority of your time? These insights will help you understand your priorities and give you the space and grace to rearrange things if necessary. (I know I’ve been out of alignment at times, and this exercise helped me to recenter and refocus on my priorities.) How we spend our time matters!
3. Look at your bank account.
In addition to how you are spending your time, what you are doing, and who you are doing it with, review your bank statements and see how and where you are spending your money and your resources. Are these in alignment with what you say your priorities are? If yes, keep it up! If not, shift and reframe your priorities. You’ll find power in possibility and see the positive potential!
4. Review your contact or client list.
Look at your missed calls. Who’s regularly at the top of the list? Who’s marked as a “Favorite” contact? When you look at your text messages, who are they coming from? Who do you regularly meet for coffee or post-work happy hour? The same rules apply to clients. Figure out who you spend time with and how they make you feel. This information should fuel any changes or conversations you have next year.
See You Next Year!
I want you to find and celebrate your own joy. Advocate for it loudly and frequently. Give your accomplishments the kudos and attention they deserve! Let them guide your vision and goals for the new year.
Don’t forget to adjust where you need to so you can increase Unstoppable Momentum and build your resilience. You’ll be ready to THRIVE in 2025!
Share one thing that brought you joy with me here.
