A Celebration Challenge to Motivate you in 2022!

Happy 2022 Victory Chicks!

I always think of January and September as “new beginning” months. January, of course, because it’s the beginning of a new year. September because from all my years in school – both as a student and a teacher – I see it as another month for “fresh starts.”

your 2022 goals achieved!There’s something hopeful about a new beginning and a fresh start, dontcha think? It’s a chance for a blank slate – like a clean blackboard (or whiteboard) with nothing written on it yet. You can choose something new and exciting as well as redoing a goal from last year that’s not finished or accomplished yet. You might also realize that some of those undone goals weren’t worthy enough for you…and you can let them go – for now or for forever.

That’s what I did, I let go of some goals.

I decided that losing weight was NOT going to be a resolution this year – for the first time ever. I’ve reached a point in my life where I care more about being healthy and well than thin and well. And, honestly, when I lost 50 lbs. in a behavior modification group many years ago – even then, I didn’t reach that magical number I wrote in my new year’s resolutions. So, in this new year, I’m at peace with whatever weight I am…as long as I’m healthy.

I also decided not to make a laundry list of resolutions (my usual pattern). After covid and prostate cancer decided to make a joke out of whatever goals I set for 2020 and 2021, for 2022 I decided to choose just one personal and one business goal for the year. If I achieve either or both of those sooner than 12/31/22, I can add another one. Maybe both will be completed by the end of summer, and I can have a “fresh start” goal/resolution in September. Or not…

Combating Burnout by Celebrating Accomplishments

Something I also want to focus on this year is celebration. I was recently texting with a colleague who believes that once the covid crisis is behind us, we’ll be having a mental health crisis. His comments reminded me of a conversation I had with my friend, Wendy, who is a certified life coach. She talked about how much burnout her clients are experiencing. After we talked, I looked up burnout. I found out that one of the remedies is making a list of all your accomplishments – and then celebrating them.

I used to do that in the early years of my business, but these past years…not so much.

The burnout conversation got me thinking about Jean, a Victorious Woman Honoree. Jean had ovarian cancer and lived with it for 20+ years – which must be a record.

Jean celebrated her children’s successes, weekends at her shore house, helping others with their treatments, or supporting spouses when someone passed. She managed a department in a well-known corporation and made a practice of celebrating her department’s successes. She also celebrated strides in ovarian cancer treatment and detection through a foundation she created that included an annual fundraiser.

Celebrate the small wins

Celebrate the big and little goalsAll of those make sense, of course. But what impressed me then – and inspires me even now – is that, on her bad post-treatment days, Jean celebrated simply getting dressed or doing laundry.  Some days she even celebrated just getting out of bed. I believe those celebrations of even the tiniest things kept her happy…and alive.

Are you celebrating everything? I wasn’t.

When I looked over 2021, at first I thought only of meetings with doctors, doing tests, and making hard health decisions. Joseph and I celebrated his successful surgery. But my 2021 goal was to grow The Five-Year Marriage community, which meant that people first had to know about it. And to that end, I got to be a guest, with Joseph, on an Emmy-winning talk show (Tamron Hall – who said Joseph and I were one of the most fascinating couples she ever met!), with an invitation to come back. I and The Five-Year Marriage were also guests on several fabulous podcasts (Growth Marriage was my fav), and featured in several print and online publications, including Brides Magazine, Marie Claire, She’s SINGLE, and The Zoe Report.

Pretty cool, huh? And you know what I did to celebrate those good things? Almost nothing! Yes, I got excited, posted on social media, and clinked a glass with Joseph. But for all the time and effort that went into each one of those media appearances, I should have given myself a treat – like a day at the beach or a long weekend away or a massage or spa day. Instead, I just said “great…next….”

CELEBRATION CHALLENGE

This year I’m choosing to make a big production out of every good thing, even the smallest things. I’m speaking for Microsoft in April (definitely NOT small) and then heading for the beach for an Easter weekend celebration.

annmarie kelly ice creamSo… I’M CHALLENGING YOU TO DO THE SAME! It doesn’t have to be only big things. Microsoft is big, but I’m going to celebrate even the smaller things. Like one of my friends, who celebrates her small successes by going to her favorite ice cream place, getting her favorite flavor, and savoring every lick (like I was doing in this picture!).

Success begets success and celebrations begets more celebrations. It’s part of the Law of Attraction. So, what will you celebrate?

If you’ve been working from home, you could celebrate getting dressed for business…even if you’re just going to your dining room.  Or celebrate getting proficient at Zoom and/or Teams. Or celebrate still having your mind intact despite being isolated, or having kids around 24/7.

How will you celebrate? A spa day, a wine party with your besties? A weekend away with your sweetie? What makes your heart sing?

My suggestion: Pick two celebration types – one for small accomplishments and one for bigger ones. Knowing your treat in advance will not only reward you for your hard work but give you something to look forward to before and during your goal-completing tasks.

Listen: It’s true we are living in strange times, but that’s all the more reason to stop your world from spinning crazy with regular sweet success celebrations.

I’m doing it – will you join me? Send me your celebration choices (Annmarie@AnnmarieKelly.com) and I’ll post them (with or without your name – your choice). Or post it yourself in the Victory Chicks Community. Maybe you’ll give someone else an idea…maybe give me an idea!!

Here’s to a fabulous 2022!!

With love and in victory,
Annmarie

P.S. A FAVOR…if you know someone who would be interested in knowing more about Savvy Sizzle, Five-Year Marriage, or Relationship Reset, would you forward this newsletter to her or him with a suggestion to join my mailing list? I’ll be offering discounts on classes, webinars, and books and the coupons or codes will be in the newsletter only. I’d very much appreciate it!!! They will too!

Take Your Relationship Even Further with the Five-Year Marriage®

Feel like your relationship needs a bit more help? You and your partner CAN LEARN how to solve problems and adjust to life’s changes together!

I explain, step by step, how to do exactly that in my book The Five-Year Marriage® – grab a copy from Amazon to learn how.

OR, if you prefer a more guided approach, I’m offering the Beginners Guide to the Brilliant Bad-Ass Marriage starting October 5 – stay tuned for more info

Did you enjoy this article? Please SHARE it!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes:

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

What is the Victorious Woman Project?

Founded by Annmarie Kelly, the Victorious Woman Project is a female empowerment resource containing articles, classes, books, podcasts and other tools for women over 40.

blog: Victory Tips

An extensive listing of blog posts that help you take control of your life and live empowered. These articles are full of victory tips.

Featured On

as seenon badge
as seenon badge
as seenon badge
as seenon badge
philly inquirer logo
style magazine logo
the zoe report logo
as seenon badge
as seenon badge
amk featured on marie clair magazine
pbs logo
as seenon badge
as seenon badge
five year marriage featured on growth marriage podcast
as seenon badge
market watch report logo
yahoo finance logo
morningstar