This morning I was going through the news feed on my Facebook page when I stumbled on a post by a friend. My friend and I studied in the same university and stayed in the same area close to the university. Her post is about her recent staying at a hotel near our university, which to her was a dream come true.  You might be wondering what’s so special about this hotel? To begin with, it is a 5-star hotel which located rather uphill, with a nice view of the city. Considering the location and facility, a one-night stay at this hotel costs a lot, especially for university students, like my friend and I. That’s why being able to stay at this hotel, is like a dream! 

Furthermore, her post reminded me that I have recently fulfilled 2 of my “youth” dream in the last few months, and… it really slipped my mind! 

The first dream was to watch MLTR’s live concert! I still remembered how my friend and I wanted so much to watch MLTR’s live concert back then, but the tickets were so expensive (for our student’s pocket). And so, we just listened to the concert from outside of the concert hall, somewhat like listening to the radio! Thus, how happy I was when I heard that MLTR was coming back to Asia, and I was able to buy the concert ticket now ☺.

The second dream came true was passing an exam. This is an exam which I have been dreaming to pass since my high school years!

So, you might be wondering, why do I start remembering my past and dreams? 

Being still in the spirit of a New Year, most of us (including me) tend to write a list of goals or resolutions (the words goal and resolution interchangeably on this blog) to be achieved during this new year. But, how many of us looked back at our last year’s goals? And for those that looked back on their previous year’s list, how many of us tend to focus on the goals that have not been achieved, and then re-include the goal in this year bucket list?

On the opposite side, how many of us looked at the goals that we have successfully achieved last year? And how many of us, not only stopped at going through the list but also taking one step further by celebrating the achievement? 

Sometimes, the word celebration will bring the image of social gathering or group of people gathers to celebrate something in particular. However, celebrating in this context can be done through a simple tap on our shoulder to tell ourselves that we have done a good job, or a post on Facebook. Simple way, yet meaningful.

You may then wonders, is it really necessary to celebrate? 

To start with, let me list 5 benefits on celebrating our achievements.

GOOD FEELING 

When we celebrate our achievement, our brain will react in a good way, and trigger the release of endorphin. This, in turn, will give us a good feeling, which subsequently is recorded by our brain. The next time we set goals, our brain will bring back the memory of joy and will looking forward to achieving the goals in the new list.

SUCCESFUL MINDSET

Celebrating our achievement can cultivate a success mindset. This mindset will increase our confidence, and higher confidence will increase the probability of achieving the new goals. This can then be a virtuous cycle.

POSITIVE REMINDER

Celebrating our achievement can be a good reminder of the effort (mentally and physically) that we spent to achieve those goals, no matter how small or how insignificant the goals are. We can, then, take this process as a lesson and replicate to achieve the new goals.

INCREASE SELF-ESTEEM

By celebrating our achievements, we “remind” ourselves that we have been working hard to achieve something meaningful to us. This will boost our self-esteem and increase our happiness. Self-esteem is the second highest rank in Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs.

BE AN INSPIRATION

Celebrating our achievement is not only benefiting ourselves but also benefit others by becoming a source of inspiration. Have you ever read or watch a documentary about successful people, and become inspired? 

Last but not least, while it is good to celebrate our achievement with family, extended family, and friends don’t be afraid to celebrate with your “best friend”, yourself.

It is not too late to start looking through our previous list and start celebrating ☺