At first I thought today was going to be a cereal for lunch kind of day.
I began my midday meal with a bowl of Honey Nut Chex but 20 minutes later when I wised up and realized cereal keeps me full for 2.3 seconds, I made myself a satiating protein smoothie.
In the blender:
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 handful frozen strawberries
- 1 scoop fitmixer chocolate milkshake protein powder
- 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 large handfuls fresh spinach
- Enough almond milk to get everything moving
Much better.
Now it’s time to move on to something I’ve been thinking about a lot this week: Success and feeling grateful for our achievements and the blessings we have in our lives right now.
Finding Success Where You Are Now
Last summer I attended a church service where the pastor addressed success. He said that so often we are reaching for the next thing and the next milestone in our lives that we forget to enjoy our current successes.
I stumbled upon my notes from this service last weekend and it really got me thinking.
We achieve so many of the goals we set for ourselves in life, but rather than enjoy the process and the end result, we immediately reach for the next thing.
I bet a famous actor at one time just wanted a part in their high school play. Then they wanted to be cast as an extra in a movie or star in a commercial. Then they wanted to move to Los Angeles and get a supporting role in a movie. Then they wanted to get a staring role. Then they wanted to win an Oscar. I bet if you would’ve told that high school student that they would simply have a role in a movie at all that they would be so excited!
It was a very eye-opening service for me, because I often set goals for myself and once I reach a goal, I rarely take time to acknowledge or even enjoy the achievement, and simply make another goal and begin again.
We often focus on what we want and what we don’t have rather than what we do have and what we already achieved.
You’ve likely achieved some kind of a goal you had in your mind for yourself to get you to the point where you are in your life right now.
Maybe you can’t find a job right now… or maybe your job totally sucks. Well, you did graduate from college and that’s a pretty awesome achievement. I bet there was a point you were just hoping to get into a certain college. And that sucky job? It will help you gain experience to apply to your next job.
The example my pastor gave related to salaries. Once you get that raise you’ve been coveting, you’re happy, but it doesn’t take too long before you want more… and more… and more.
That’s great… on some levels. Being ambitious and setting goals is incredibly important. Working hard is important.
But so is recognizing your success and enjoying the little everyday successes. Take time to recognize the amazing relationships you have with your sister, husband, children or friends that you work hard to make a priority in your life. Feel proud of the degree you busted your butt to obtain a few years ago. Pat yourself on the back for making it to the gym four times last week. Acknowledge the positive feedback you got from your boss on Monday.
Celebrating the success and achievements we have in our lives is so important. Making goals is important. But being blinded by these goals can be destructive and cause us to miss out on enjoying the rewards of our hard work and the success that comes our way because of our efforts.
There’s always a better job, more money or someone achieving something amazing that you only dream of achieving, but if we only focus on what we don’t have, we’ll miss out on all of the blessings and successes that are right in front of us every single day.
(And just so you don’t think I’m telling you to chill out and be complacent and never try to achieve anything in life, if you have a BIG goal in your mind that you want to go for, GO FOR IT, just remember to celebrate the little milestones along the way. If you’re struggling with self doubt about whether or not you can achieve that goal, you might be interested in this past post: Changing “Yes But” to “Yes And.”)
Questions of the Afternoon
- What was the last major goal you set out to accomplish that you achieved? Did you take time to celebrate your success?
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