Coaches: Do You Need to Celebrate Your Success? | By Ruby McGuire

ruby-do-you-need-to-celebrate-successWhen you're a coach, it can be easy celebrating success with your clients - but what about you? Do you find yourself moving onto the next thing without spending any time appreciating what you've achieved?

I'm a bit of a do-er and to be quite honest, I find it a challenge to remember to celebrate success. It's kind of a "Great, that's done, what's next?" attitude. A case in point was earlier this year when I'd spent months preparing (and procrastinating) on going for my Accredited Senior Coach qualification. When asked by my coach how I'd celebrate now that I'd achieved it, I went completely quiet.

I didn't know the answer off the top of my head. Celebrating hadn't even come into the equation. The hard work and preparation had been the only thing on my mind, another thing to get crossed off the to-do list. But how is that helpful?

It's not just the big things that we should celebrate. We should celebrate the small things too, like being brave enough to post something in a group, or stepping out of our comfort zones to ask someone to work with us, learning a new skill, or even just being proud of ourselves for hanging in there when the going got tough.

We help our clients celebrate how far they come, so why is it so hard to do it for ourselves?

Sometimes it's not just that we don't celebrate, but more that we just don't know how. Here's 3 ways that you can start to celebrate your success.

Step One - Give yourself permission to celebrate

Maybe you feel it's wrong somehow to celebrate your achievements, to "toot your own horn". But it doesn't have to be done in an egotistical way – even a little happy dance for your small wins is better than nothing!

When you celebrate your success you're reinforcing all of that fabulously positive stuff about you, and that can inspire and motivate you to keep going, especially if you've been finding things a bit difficult.

You might find you get in your own way. "Who am I to shout out about the fact one of my clients got great success?" A client might share a testimonial and say you helped them massively. Your initial reaction might be, "Well you did all the work!" And yes they did, but you still had a part to play in unlocking that potential. You still helped them gain a different perspective and stay focused on all they want to be.

If you find it really hard to celebrate, then just accept the compliment gracefully and give yourself a silent high 5, saying 'Yes, I did help'!

Step Two – Keep a list of ways you could celebrate

When you're not in celebration mode, or find it difficult to know what to write, note the things that might make good celebration ideas for you. That way, if you're not sure how to celebrate you can simply pick something off the list that fits well for you at the time.

Maybe it's buying a new book, or going out for dinner. Perhaps it's simply treating yourself to some time off, a 'retreat' where you take yourself off somewhere like an art gallery or museum. You know best what works for you.

Often we can find what we really want when we're not thinking too hard about it. So if you find yourself thinking, "Ooh I'd love to do that/have that", note it down. It could be one of your rewards.

Step Three - Keep a Success Journal

Start to record your successes. It might be a nice new notebook or you could keep a business journal to record your successes. Write down things that have been hard work, and note how you've overcome those problems. Quick Tip: Those 'overcoming problems' notes can be turned into great blog post content for later use!

When you journal, you can look back on it over time and recognise how far you've come. You could journal once a month, once a week, or even once a day. Make it part of a good routine so that it's something that will get done, rather than an idea that's never implemented (we've all got some of those, haven't we?!)

Examples of successes to write down include that a-ha moment you helped your client to get, or the client that gave you an amazing testimonial for helping them move forward – yes that one gets written down too. You could also celebrate that you figured out what widget you needed for your website, or that you finally figured out who you love to work with. It all counts!

And a caveat:

Don't you dare delay that celebration! Celebrate at the time, or as near to it as possible, when you're in the feeling of achievement, or it will lose its shine and you'll wonder why you're celebrating at all!

In my Facebook group, we have a Fabulous Friday, where people share what they've achieved that week. Sometimes, it's got incredible stuff, sometimes it might be just getting through the week, being able to stay sane all week while other things seem to be falling apart.

It all counts as celebration!

There are so many reasons to celebrate success, but even though (and perhaps especially because) we're coaches, we often need a reminder to do it for ourselves too.

But this non-celebration thing isn't going to happen to you anymore now, is it, because you know it's important to walk your talk, right?

So what about you? Are you ready to start working on your mindset, and stop being invisible? Let's work on visibility to get you more profitable. It's time that you and your fabulous business were seen, both on and offline. If fear is the thing holding you back, then you'll love my new programme, Fearless Visibility Divas – it's time to become a fearlessly visible, fiercely profitable, and hugely impactful solopreneur.

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Contributing Author:

Ruby McGuire is a Business & Mindset Queen. She's an Accredited Master Coach & Master Mentor with the IAPC&M, Trainer, Inspirational Speaker and Author of multiple books. She loves helping her clients step up and become leaders (aka Queens) of their businesses. She helps her clients develop their leadership and business skills, create a success mindset and attract dreamy clients. She is a Brit on a mission to live a simpler life without marketing on social media so that she can spend more time in her beautiful Scottish surroundings. You can find her at her pretty online home, over on her podcast show, Rock Your Fabulous Biz, and here where she shares her Mini Guide to Marketing Without Social Media. When she’s not working you’ll find her surrounded by books, making hand-made cards, and enjoying life with her hubby, little dog and chickens (usually with a Whittard Vanilla cappuccino in her hand)!

Learn more about Ruby & see all their articles here >>

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