The missing key to a fulfilling life

I talk to so many clients who are incredibly productive. They set and achieve amazing goals. They’re on the go from morning to night doing both work-type activities and self-care type things like yoga, meditation, eating well and so on. On paper, you would think they have it all. From the outside, their lives look perfect.

And yet, they tell me that there’s something missing. They’re on a mission and they’re living their purpose, but as soon as they accomplish something (like writing a book, getting a million hits on their podcast, landing a new dream client, exponentially increasing their income, selling a home, completing a certification or expanding their team), they say, “Ok! What’s next?”

Can you tell what’s missing? I won’t keep you hangin’... it’s self-acknowledgement and celebration. These two practices are absolutely critical if you want to feel fulfilled, valued and appreciated.

Here’s the thing, though. The way we do celebration (if we do it at all) is a little problematic.

The way I see it, there are 3 major mistakes when it comes to acknowledging ourselves and celebrating who we have become.

Mistake #1

Not celebrating yourself at all. 

If you would describe yourself as crazy busy, with a multitude of things on the go, always rushing from one thing to the next, you would deeply benefit from pausing to acknowledge yourself in a mindful way.

Otherwise, what’s it all for? If you can’t slow down to notice who you’re becoming, then is there really a point to accomplishing all your goals? Pausing for self-acknowledgement is the key to feeling all the feelings we’re supposed to feel when we reach a new threshold. Plus, it will amplify your success and allow your future goals and accomplishments to find you more easily.

So obviously, you want to be a magnet for success, right? That means you’ve got to insert some celebration into your lifestyle, in a meaningful way.

Mistake #2

Confusing celebrating with over-indulgence.

Ok, so let’s say you decide to start celebrating your wins and successes. Hooray! That’s a great first step. There’s a catch, though. The way we’ve been taught to celebrate can easily be confused with over-indulgence.

Maybe something super amazing happens, like you complete something you’ve been working on for ages. You’re finally done! You persevered! Yay! You decide to celebrate with a fancy meal out with some friends.

While out for your dining experience, you decide to really go for it, because, hey, you deserve it. You order the stuff on the menu that you normally would avoid with a 10 foot pole. And you drink a few too many glasses of celebrational wine. It’s fun at the time but...

The next day you’re filled with regret. What started off as fun turned into over-indulgence and now you’re wracked with guilt. All the good vibes from the accomplishment are now overshadowed with unpleasant feelings. Bummer, right? 

Mistake #3

Keeping your celebrations focused on the external.

Here’s another way we can mess up self-acknowledgement. (Don’t worry, I’ll give you solutions soon, so this isn’t a total downer.)

Because our society tends to focus on what we can see and quantify, that’s where our celebrational efforts go. What we can’t see often gets ignored or flies under the radar, rarely seeing the light of day.

Here’s the thing, though. Anything that happens on the outside - in the outer world - is the result of a major shift on the inside and it’s so valuable and important to notice what’s going on in there so that we can feel good about ourselves.

If you never pause to do that in a mindful and intentional way, your life will feel kind of empty, like something’s missing and you can’t really put your finger on it. Let me tell you where to put your finger: on self-acknowledgement and deep celebration. It’s totally the missing link to the life you know is available to you.

Solutions

1- Make time regularly to pause and celebrate your wins.

2- Gather with like-minded people, share a list of your successes, both internal and external and make it sacred.

3- Embody the new vibration that you’ve cultivated; whenever you achieve a goal you raise your vibration and it’s so very important to amplify that vibration by bringing it into every cell of your body. You can embody through breath work, ritual and/or movement such as dancing.

4- Repeat regularly.

So here’s the part where your eager little mind says, “Oh yes, I’m absolutely going to do that. It sounds like a great idea. Deep Celebration, here I come!”

And then, 2 or 3 months down the road, most people will realize, “Oh shoot… I never did that deep celebration thing. Oh well. I’m sure I’ll make time for it soon. I’ll just try harder.”

And then a few months later, “Something is totally missing from my life. I just never feel like I get enough done, or like I’m making a big enough difference.”

I say: Stop the Madness! Either make a plan and follow through with it to bring more deep celebration and self-acknowledgement into your life, or if you want it to be even easier, register for this month’s Self-Care Masterclass: The Art of Deep Celebration. I’ll walk you through all the steps of how to acknowledge yourself in the most powerful way possible so that you vibrate with more and more success and what you want comes into your life with ease and grace without you having to work so ridiculously hard. It’s going to be amazing. People are really loving these monthly masterclasses and I would love for you to join us.

Here’s the other thing I’m cooking up: a monthly Deep Celebration gathering where we get together and I guide you through the powerful and critical steps of self-acknowledgement in community so that you amplify your success on a regular basis without having to hold yourself accountable and make it happen all by yourself. Phew!

If you’re thinking like this is something you could totally use in your life, there’s a little Early Bird Special for you. (Tweet tweet!) When you register for the masterclass by Friday May 14, end of day, you’ll also receive access to the Deep Celebration gatherings over the next 3 months (June, July and August.) Click here for all the details. You really just can’t imagine how dramatically these gatherings will impact your life. But here’s a clue:

During one Deep Celebration gathering, after we celebrated with a participant for her internal and external wins, she had a huge heart opening and felt like she could feel some love for her mother, from whom she’d been estranged for over a decade. Wow, right? Another woman felt self-love for the first time in her life. So, yeah, it’s major. 

I would deeply love to support you in your journey, if it’s a fit for you. As Winnie the Pooh said, “Who can stop us from celebrating?” (What a wise old bear.)

With festivities of love and carnivals of courage,

Christina

Creator of Courageous Self-Care

Celebrator of the Extraordinary and the Insignificant

Eater of Fire (just once, because that was enough of that)