To Watch this as a 5-min video
To listen to it as a 5-min podcast
Birthdays, holidays, and when you achieve a milestone? Sure, but celebration is needed more when you are down, when you go through disappointments, losses, failures. Celebrating your small steps can redirect your attention and empower you internally. Happiness, to a large extent, depends on what you pay attention to.
Don’t wait until you have achieved 1,000 miles to celebrate. Celebrate mile by mile, step by step, inch by inch. “Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still”, says a Chinese Proverb.
When you pay attention to small and incremental changes and celebrate them, it pumps you up for the next step, the next milestone, and the next, and the next.
Sometimes you need to celebrate with much fanfare. Sometimes you celebrate privately with small treats – and they don’t need to be made of sugar and fat.
When I am done with my book, I will celebrate by traveling overseas. That is a luxurious celebration.
But there are countless small ways to celebrate. For me, it can be one square of dark chocolate, or a long walk. Even a chore can be a celebratory reward: the satisfaction after transforming a cluttered corner into an organized space. A mundane task through the lens of celebration becomes an invitation to a joyful and meaningful experience. It all depends on attitude.
Celebrate in your own ways. Pick something you enjoy.
Celebrate with friends and family, and spread your joy.
If I train my mind to view cleaning up a room as a way to celebrate, it no longer feels like a chore. I celebrate not only the result but the process. New accomplishments (such as a tidy room or new travel experiences) are achieved in a fun and uplifting way. The satisfaction makes me want to find another goal to achieve, create another reason to celebrate, and enjoy another treat – the virtuous cycle never ends.
Merely being yourself and alive is worth celebrating. You can always celebrate other small things before you fall asleep, and think of something to celebrate tomorrow. Then you can’t wait to get out of bed.
The joy of my work in decoding brand DNA for individuals, comes from helping each person get in touch with their past and their dreams, so they can own their power and CELEBRATE themselves, their uniqueness, and their purposes. This is the first step before getting a firm grip on their clientele and competitive landscape.
Now you know why I love my work – In guiding my clients to be in touch with their inner selves as well as with the clients they serve, I am celebrating them. That is empowering.
On the contrary, it makes you appreciate your steps and your journey, far more than the destination and who is taking the steps. “He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough”, says Lao Tzu.
This is particularly true in this fast-changing AI age, described by one as climbing the AI mountain while the mountain is moving fast. “Here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that”, in Alice in Wonderland.
As I said in “Anchor and Sails”, we need to ground ourselves firmly in our own values, beliefs, and guiding principles in turbulent times, while taking advantage of the wind to sail to our destination, mile by mile. Sometimes, the destination may even change, but the journey is here and now. Is the captain single mindedly fixated on the destination, but depleting the crew and wrecking the ship in getting there? Too often people forget that the journey IS the destination.
Leaders, during economic uncertainty and political divides, it is more important than ever to celebrate your own small steps. Celebrate your crew’s small achievements. Create bonding experiences within teams and organizations. Build trust and comradery. Be both the anchor and sail to those you lead. If you do your job to inspire and care for them, both the journey and the destination will be achieved.
Celebrate here and now, and often. It helps you see the silver lining when a dark cloud overwhelms you. It makes you pay attention to the small things that build the bigger picture.
To celebrate is a mentality, an attitude, a habit, and a way of life.
Celebrate yourself.
Celebrate others.
Celebrate big,
Celebrate small.
Cheers!
© Joanne Z. Tan, 2025, all rights reserved.
Please don’t forget to like it, comment, or better, SHARE IT WITH OTHERS!
– To stay in the loop, subscribe to our Newsletter
(About 10 Plus Brand: In addition to the “whole 10 yards” of brand building, digital marketing, and content creation for business and personal brands. To contact us: 1-888-288-4533.)
– Visit our Websites:
Phone: 888-288-4533
– Find us online by clicking or follow these hashtags:
