Sometimes the best way to re-energize and motivate yourself is to remind yourself of past accomplishments. Everything we have learned or goals we have met have brought us to the place we are now, and getting clear about where we are is the key to navigation. About once a year I will pull out some files of collected inspirational items or memorabilia and look through them. It can be as long or as short a process as you have time for, but reviewing past accomplishments, clippings that inspire you, photographs of great times or letters from friends and family can reinvigorate current plans and projects.
As you go through these mementos and motivational clippings, why not toss anything that brings you down? An unflattering beach photo — who needs it? Reminders of bad boyfriends? Not in my archives anymore. There was a time when I treasured notes from a guitarist I once dated, but a few years ago I went backstage to say hi to him after a concert he couldn’t even remember my name. Ouch! Anything that was meant to be inspiration but now seems more like a guilt trip for dreams deferred or dismissed should be briefly examined. If there’s a glimmer of “I’d still love to do that,” hold on to it, but if it’s a shopping file full of career clothes and bikinis and you’re well into retirement or more concerned about skin cancer than six-pack abs, send it to the recycle bin.
When I first began organizing in 2006 I devised the “Seven C’s” of organizing. These are Call/Calendar, Collect, Clear, Clean, Consider, Contain and Celebrate. Celebrating one finished project before starting another is incredibly motivating. There’s something about the trust that accrues when we are confident that we will give ourselves space to acknowledge and appreciate hard work before setting up the proverbial pins and putting the pressure on for the next strike.
Looking at our accomplishments, for example, a stack of Dean’s List certificates in a file or photos from an amazing party you threw, falls under the Celebrate category. It’s never to late to celebrate an accomplishment, even if it just means giving it a little, “oh right, I did that!” attagirl. It could motivate you to pursue a master’s degree or decide to host the next big holiday.
Often, we are so quick to move on to the next thing, the next project, that we skip this important “celebration” aspect of a task. We come home from a wonderful trip but get sucked into emails and errands again and our photographs never get printed and put into albums. We finish a workout but leave before the feel-good cool down to rush home to make dinner.
We complete a big work project and move on to the next one without honoring the successful outcome with a clean break. The pause between projects could include “thank-you” notes to colleagues, a celebratory drink or meal, a clearing of the desk and neatly filing and labeling the support materials, etc.
Not honoring ourselves by creating the photo album, relaxing with a cup of tea after hosting weekend guests or clearing our desks at the end of a hectic work day sets us up with a backlog of stress as we go into our next project. It makes it harder to succeed because our foundation is shaky.
The bigger the accomplishment, the more thoughtful the celebration should be. A great yoga class deserves a nice shower with good soap and shampoo followed by a chilled can or bottle of whatever your favorite hydration might be.
Finishing a big work project successfully might be celebrated with a special getaway. The more stressful the project, the more lengthy the getaway. Of course, planning a getaway reward while working on a project can add stress, so you might just leave the planning to a tour group like Road Scholars or Mac’s Adventures so that all you have to do is book your flights.
Sometimes our next creative and fulfilling project is buried in a past event or accomplishment that we haven’t taken the time to look at yet. Or sometimes just the satisfaction of looking back a bit (and doing a little sorting and tossing while we’re at it) can refresh us for the next step forward.