In my career, I’ve celebrated many times. Sometimes, the celebration was about an individual goal. While other times, the celebration was acknowledging the team’s goal.

In those celebrations, we were often celebrating ‘what’ we accomplished. We rarely celebrated ‘how’ we achieved the goal.

By only celebrating ‘what’ you accomplish, the problem is you put the focus on something you’re unlikely to do again. Despite any similarities, no two packages of work are ever identical. At the very least, by accomplishing your goal, you’ve changed the conditions for the next piece of work.

Start by examining ‘how’ you achieved your goals. It will be things like the team’s contributions, innovations, and teamwork that led to your success. Whatever it is, when you understand how you succeeded, you’re more likely to succeed again in the future. Now, that’s something worth celebrating!

You’ve got this.