Whilst it’s important to be ‘doing’ in the business, it’s also crucial to stop and celebrate — and not just the ‘bigger things’ that happen.

Building a business On Your Terms™ is always a marriage of the inner and outer. We have to come from these two perspectives, the yin and yang. Taking the time to recognise that our efforts are worth it makes the effort all the more possible.

At least weekly, as business owners and entrepreneurs, we want you to really get that stopping to celebrate is vital for you and your business. Added to that, celebration helps you to create understanding of where you are at, and how the business is aligning to what made you start it too.

With that awareness comes our second invitation. Share. Because that kind of sharing is something that can actually work for you as a business tool — and no, we don’t mean social media sharing, we mean a deeper more communication led sharing about where you are at, how you are doing. And if you are not good at either celebrating or sharing in this way — yet! — we’ve got a few pointers for you at the end of this read.

An invitation to stop, look, and share.

Running your own business is not always plain sailing. There are so many things that need to be done, so many watch points, and it’s easy to move from one thing to another blindly. The dictionary defines celebration as “ taking part in special enjoyable activities in order to show that a particular occasion is important”.

We suggest that you set aside time to simply celebrate. In the process of noticing what’s going right, there’s naturally a look at both what is going well, and what is not working as you wish. It’s contextual and related. And the entrepreneurial part of you will want to start to ‘fix’. Get into the habit of setting the urge aside, just for a moment. Let the celebration fill you first with the satisfaction and pride that, guaranteed, will motivate you more.

Celebration gives you content.

Identifying what you wish to celebrate naturally leads on to having something powerful to share. The initial reluctance to share your stories is a common thing — but once you get going, it can feel impossible to stop! And of course in the context of sharing the experiences and lessons, you begin to get the feedback from others like you that ‘this happened for me too.’

Sharing where we are at leaves us less lonely. Sharing allows us to claim and own what is happening, and only then can you actually begin to do something about everything else that leads to more celebration. Sharing allows you to ask for things you didn’t even know you needed to. It allows others to contribute to where you are at and give you suggestions you’d never even thought if.

But — and this is key — it also means you hear the thoughts outside of your head, which can sometimes be just the thing you need to move ahead in your business again, because it’s a new perspective. That’s why, whenever we get together with the business owners we support, celebration is the key thing we ask of everyone first — before any other conversations happen.

There is no order to the size of celebration!

Take a minute to stop reading and simply answer this: What are YOU celebrating in your business over the last week? What moment of triumph have you had — big or small?

We bet that felt good, even a little. And just like with Social media, consistency is key. Celebrating regularly builds your confidence like nothing else we know. It’s like a secret to keeping going when things are tough. It’s the motivational pep talk that you don’t even need to have. It’s the fuel you can use to keep going and growing.

Celebration is a reward and a way to show gratitude to yourself and others for your efforts. It’s a way to acknowledge appreciate and even admit that you’ve done something well. It’s learning to be thankful and gracious — and it can be used at any time. It allows us to take a moment and take a breath. We can honour the moment, the task, the lesson, the completed product and it’s importance to our progress.

Awards are your industry’s way to celebrate.

Celebration in business at a wider level looks like awards and public acknowledgement — every industry has standards and most have some way to recognise individuals & companies that set the benchmark. This is one way to look at celebration — being celebrated by others and seen to be a contribution in some way. You may even have your sights on receiving one of these awards some day for your business. And that’s partly where sharing your celebrations comes in.

Sharing openly and honestly about where you are at in business is a powerful and can actually make you feel like you are on track, even or especially if you don’t think you’ve done anything.

When we share our celebrations, we call it ‘the Buzz in the Business’ — you recall things that you have done and learned that are definitely cause for celebration. If you can do this with one or more people initially to build your ‘celebration muscles’, we recommend it — many of you don’t see your efforts as celebration worthy until others on the outside of them acknowledges this.

Sharing can be a form of teaching.

When you tell others what you know, or what you are experiencing, you are, in effect, highlighting to those listening what to do or not do, what options they have, how they can or might achieve a certain thing they too want. The key thing about sharing your celebration is that it usually brings you to an even deeper perspective or appreciation that you’ve not had before.

Sharing connects you at a different level.

Being seen by others, connecting to what you are achieving and accomplishing is motivating for you and inspiring to others. It allows us to silently build rapport and relationship, even without us noticing or realising. Whenever someone reaches out for support and you ask — how did you come to find me — and the say ‘it was that time when you shared xxxx’ — that is when you fully realise the impact and power of this as a tool in your business.

Celebrating keeps you focused.

In addition, when we stop and acknowledge just how far we’ve come or what we’ve laid foundations for, it gives us a boost that allows us to roll up our sleeves again and get back in the game. And that’s invaluable, because there’s nothing worse than wasting time feeling uncertain and out of sorts. Celebrating cuts through that in a heart beat and keeps you focused and in action on what matters.

Want to celebrate and share but don’t know where to start?

For those of you to whom this is new, here’s a list of things you could start to look at and celebrate. Remember, we said there is no ‘order or size’ to celebrations. What may seem small to someone else, may be the KEY to a whole new level for you. So Start to notice and celebrate. Here are some suggestions:

• Achieving Business Milestones — reaching the targets you set for yourself, on time (and sometimes reaching the target just after time too!)
• Doing ‘an Edison’ — The lesson you got from doing something ‘not the right way first time’
• Track your progress and consistency — weekly blogs and newsletters, or consistent presence in your community
• Firsts in an area that matters — e.g. your first 10 person speaking gig, then your first 100 people speaking gig, next that 1000 person speaking gig and so on
• Doing something you’ve been putting off or avoiding
• Taking on someone new in the business is cause for celebration
• Landing a great deal or new clients
• A new way of doing something that saves you time, energy , resources, money or effort
• Delegating something and actually freeing yourself up
• Writing the first or next chapter of your book
• Reviewing the course material you’ve just completed
• New mindsets — when you put up your prices, or asking someone for a favour that you never would have

You get the idea…. there’s a never-ending pot of goodness you can share…. these should have stimulated your thinking! 🙂

SO- when and how often should you celebrate?

• Regularly!!! — so you build the muscle that allows you to acknowledge and link your efforts to your results
• Rhythmically — so you can begin to track the productive ways in which you are creating more
• Repeatedly — When something happens that you’ve been waiting for or working for — so you don’t dismiss your efforts, your expertise and your energy (we recommend putting a reminder in your calendar)

AND MOST OF ALL: when you get in the foggy or frustrated state because it’s all just go go go, or feels like drudgery — celebration is a moment to stop and really truly connect back in to the fact that you ARE achieving.

Who to celebrate and share with.

Choose carefully — like minded people, who will understand you a little better are a better choice than those naysayers who just don’t ‘get it’. Build up connections and peers and choose to be part of groups that will support you as you share. Over time you’ll get to know where to share that feels good for the thing and the depth at which you are sharing:

• A mastermind, a FB group where people know you and have similar issues and desires to you can be uplifting and supportive
• A good friend, coach or accountability buddy
• A forum in which what you’ve done can be appreciated because they know what it takes to have made the achievement you’ve made — where mutual industry might make it more ‘celebratory’

And when you’ve ‘got’ the lesson, or you know you can explain why the celebration is a celebration, then by all means share socially — in a post, a blog, a photo, that lets you connect more widely and bring people along on your journey.

Finally, a reminder for why celebration is good for your (business) soul.

There are some clear reasons to start exercising this muscle if it’s new to you, or to keep it up if you already do it:

• It allows you to review and disconnect from the projects you are involved in. It lets you know when completion has happened (even if it’s only the reaching of a milestone, not the finished article). Finishing the writing of the draft, landing the proposal that you spent hours on, doing your first gig etc
• It closes a chapter. It frees up energy and regulates your motivation, keeping you ‘up’ and ready for longer and more sustained periods of time. Imagine your energy being endlessly tied up vs being freed up ready for use elsewhere!
• Because you deserve acknowledgement! When you learn a new skill, implement a tool or technique that you have never used before, when you land a deal, increase your conversion rates, do something (anything) you’ve never done before, you can (must!) celebrate because you are adding to the business and yourself
• To give you the confidence you need to keep going. It can be hard to be in business, and stopping to make sure it’s all worth it is priceless. You become unbeatable and strengthen your dedication to your purpose for the business and yourself

The power of sharing is that you feel less alone, the power of celebration is that you feel more connected. And the two go hand in hand. Both are vital to keeping YOUR energy steady and present.

So go on, stop a moment (especially if you didn’t when we first invited you above!). We want to know: What are you celebrating? What CAN you be celebrating?

Let us know in a comment or join us inside The Connection Hub — our FB Group for Speakers, Authors & Coaches. Who knows it might feel good to celebrate your success publicly in our #FridayFeeling post!Speaker INsight

We support speakers, authors & coaches to monetise their message, market their purpose and create & manage their portfolio business, ON THEIR TERMS™.