The Power of Celebration
Whether you've studied psychology or not, the concept of 'positive reinforcement' is a familiar concept, emphasising the idea that a good feeling or energy in the moment guarantees a longer lasting impact which is also proven to be more memorable.
According to some psychologists, such as BJ Fogg, celebrating our small achievements in a positive way will actually play a pivotal role in distinguishing habits as well as establishing them. His method, 'Tiny Habits' states that new behavior is able to occur when 3 elements are brought together: motivation, ability and a prompt.
For example, rather than focusing on long term goals, we can break down 'easy' behaviour in order to reinforce habits and add them into our daily routine, crowning the term - Tiny Habits. According to Fogg, we can use this philosophy of habits to implement them into our everyday lifestyle, for example doing stretches while preparing breakfast; integrating it slowly into our routine in a specific form. We can choose whether we would like to continue adding more to the flow depending on our preference.
With the power of celebration we are able to wire new behaviours into our lives, making them a permanent fixture of sorts. With the sanction system in place, we can choose to award our achievements and empower ourselves through this healthy encouragement. Adults fixate over when they do a bad job, what about hyping themselves up when they do something great?
When we dwell on our negative actions we tend to draw away from appreciating our achievements, whether it be in our work, personal life or social life. Highlighting and patting ourselves on the back is the first step to creating a pattern which can foster our growth as individuals. Instead of 'I should've done more', we can backtrack and think 'I did all that I could and it was enough'. These moments may seem small but are in fact the things that will shape our entire outlook, fortifying our little habits.
A substantial part of BJ Fogg's 'Tiny Habits' methodology is feeling good about yourself. He deems celebration of oneself as a 'frame shift' in psychology, not only enabling the creation of new habits by encouraging that good feeling for our achievements but it also changes our behaviour towards ourselves and others.
Our emotions have the ability to guarantee habits, strengthening them through the feedback we give ourselves. If you say it, you will feel it. Celebrating yourself is the beginning to actually feel wonderful internally and open many more opportunities, in terms of networking, work, personal achievements and so much more!