The Importance of Celebrating Milestones
Celebrating milestones is important, and shouldn’t just be reserved for birthdays, weddings, and graduations. Milestones come in all shapes and sizes. They may include completing an important work project, doing well on a test, finishing a major household remodel, or any number of accomplishments. In today’s fast-paced world, people often get wrapped up in jumping right into the next task — but they forget to congratulate or reward themselves. Below are just a few of the benefits of celebrating your accomplishments.
Benefits of Celebrating Milestones
Personal growth is important. Rewarding yourself for your achievements, whether that’s learning a new skill, finding a new job, or acing a class, can lead to your next step forward. Why? Because celebrating small goals can help encourage you to achieve larger ones. For example, if you want to learn a new language, don’t forget to acknowledge yourself for hitting daily or weekly studying targets. Daily celebrations can be as simple as indulging in a piece of your favorite chocolate, where a weekly recognition could involve ordering lunch from your favorite restaurant.
Celebrating milestones also helps reinforce positive behaviors and attitudes, both of which are important when tackling a new task or challenge. Whether you’re celebrating with co-workers because your team landed a big client, with classmates after finishing a tough semester, or with your partner after getting through the first few weeks of being a new parent, acknowledging milestones can help nudge you toward future successes.
Important Milestones Worth Celebrating
Celebrating small accomplishments is just as important as celebrating big ones, and there are lots of milestones worth commemorating.
- Passing an important test: Passing a tough test is a notable achievement. Before you start focusing on your next big exam or assignment, take some time to acknowledge your performance. Buy yourself a cup of coffee or a new book, or give yourself a night off from studying.
- Completing a semester: Each time you complete a semester, you’re one step closer to earning your degree. It may be a smaller victory than graduating, but your efforts should be celebrated.
- Work anniversaries: In the 1950s, it wasn’t unusual for people to spend their entire lives working for the same company. Today, however, workers change jobs an average of 12 times throughout their lifetime. Celebrating work anniversaries can remind you what you love about your job.
- Birthdays that don’t end in zero: If you’re not celebrating your 26th, 31st, or 36th birthday, you’re missing out. Celebrating birthdays gives you time to reflect on all the things you’ve accomplished in the past year. Throw a party and cut yourself a big piece of cake — you’ve earned it!
- Successfully adapting to studying, working, and teaching children at home: Adapting to this “new normal” hasn’t been easy for anyone — especially those who’ve needed to juggle multiple responsibilities from home. This is a huge success that deserves recognition.
Psychological Benefits of Celebrating Milestones
Honoring your achievements not only feels good, it has numerous psychological benefits. For example, celebrating milestones provides structure. Rewarding yourself for successes, even small ones, gives you something to look forward to.
Celebrations can also help people transition into new phases of life. For example, weddings are celebrated because they join two individuals into a married couple. Baby showers aren’t just about giving or getting gifts, they’re also about celebrating people who are about to transition into parenthood. Celebrating the end of a degree program is also important because it helps students transition into a new phase of their life, regardless of whether that means pursuing advanced roles, such as managerial positions, or shifting fields entirely.
Celebrating school, work, and personal milestones not only helps people acknowledge their successes, it also provides opportunities to strengthen bonds with family, friends, and coworkers. Positive memories of past accomplishments can help motivate people to pursue future goals.
Ideas for Celebrating Milestones
Celebrations of achievements don’t need to be lavish, expensive, or over the top. For example, did your team at work meet an important sales goal? Schedule a fun event with your team members, such as going to lunch or throwing a small party.
Did you just pass an important test or get a good grade on a tough project? Treat yourself! Schedule a massage, plan a celebration with family members, or go out to a movie. If you have children, hire a babysitter and spend a night out with your spouse or partner. If you have school-aged children and you’d like them to celebrate with you, buy them some paper, markers, and stickers, and invite them to show their support in a creative way. Other ideas for celebrating milestones include:
- Scheduling a short vacation, staycation, or camping trip
- Treating yourself to your favorite dessert
- Giving yourself permission to enjoy downtime, sit still, and binge-watch your favorite show
- Splurging on something that can help you achieve your next goal (e.g., buying a new backpack or briefcase to celebrate a school accomplishment, celebrating a fitness goal by buying yourself a new pair of running or workout shoes)
Move Forward to Your Next Goal
You’ve likely hit tons of milestones since the start of the year. Taking time to celebrate your achievements, regardless of whether they’re large or small, can help you reflect on what you’ve accomplished and look ahead toward your next goal.
If you’ve yet to take the first brave step toward finishing a degree you’ve started — or you’ve been thinking about advanced education but have yet to take the plunge — learn more about Maryville University’s flexible online degree programs.
Completing a degree or going back to school is surely a milestone worth commemorating.
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Sources
HR Katha, “Achievement of Even the Smallest Milestones Should Be Celebrated”
MTM Recognition, “Celebrating Personal Milestones: The New Normal of Recognition
People HR “Why You Should Celebrate Milestones”
Psych Central, “The Importance of Celebrating Milestones Together”
Zippa, Average Number of Jobs in a Lifetime [2021]: All Statistics