Celebrating all your wins… big ones and small ones … along the way toward your goal turns out to be a key way to create a mindset of long lasting success and momentum.

What do you usually do when you finish a task on your list?

If you’re like most people, you’ll …

>>> Do nothing – just keep going to the next thing on your to-do list

>>> Or you tell yourself, “Sure, I finally got this done but I should have finished it way sooner and done it much better.”

>>> Or something like, “So what?… look at the huge never-ending list that still needs to get done!”

These are typical responses from our OWW brain perspective.

Our what?

Todd Herman, a top performance coach for athletes and business people talks about the difference between an Oww mind and a Wow mind.

One sets us up for success, the other spirals us down into stress and overload.

What’s your Oww mind?

This is starting out with a big goal in mind – the business you’re setting up or expanding for example. You take some actions and begin to achieve small victories. Your guest blog post gets accepted, you add 100 people to your list, people sign up for your class. 

But instead of focusing on the victories, you look at the huge gap from where you are now to your ideal end goal, waaaay off in the future … and you come up lacking. 

Todd calls it the Chasm of Despair. No matter what you do it’s not enough and this feeling of frustration sets in. You criticize yourself and/or blame the economy, other people. Pretty soon excuses set in along with procrastination and avoiding what you need to do.

Or you just push yourself even harder. Fun does not enter into the picture.

If you’re functioning in WOW mind…

you start out at the same place – a business you’re setting up or expanding. You take actions and begin to achieve some victories.

Only as a Wow brainer, you look back to the starting point and measure your progress from that point, keeping your focus on the victories, what Todd calls the Valley of Confidence. You see what worked, how it might be improved and are excited to try again. A feeling of power, confidence and enthusiasm builds.

Huge difference.

How Can You Easily Step Into Wow Mind?

Celebrate All Your Wins!

Yes, celebrate each baby step along the way. When you allow yourself to stop and acknowledge a sense of accomplishment, right then in the moment, a few things happen.

>>> You are retraining your brain to associate your work with fun, high energy, and greater self confidence. The feeling of growth, adventure and momentum towards the goal kicks in and builds on itself.

>>> It begins to cut through the voice that tells you, “You don’t deserve to celebrate anything yet. When you get to the big goal, then you can do that. Meanwhile, get back to work!”

>>> It will kick up massive resistance. And that’s a good thing. It means you can see where you’re stuck in those old patterns and begin to consciously make changes to create new ones.

Here’s a couple simple ways to celebrate right in the moment:

1 >>> After completing a step on your list, or getting news of even the simplest thing … another person signed up to your list, whatever it is … STOP. Let yourself feel that positive energy in your body and then shout out loud “Yay!!! I Did It!” “WooHoo!!!”

Anything to viscerally feel all that energy moving in your body and you consciously giving yourself a big cheer, a pat on the back… whatever makes you feel great. Put some energy behind it though. Really celebrate out loud. Bring the energy up from the root chakra all the way through your vocal expression.

2 >>> Bookmark or put on your phone or iTunes a couple of songs that just make you want to get up and dance. I bookmarked the James Brown classic, “I Feel Good” that I love playing to get me out of my chair and on my feet for a couple minutes. It’s a great little break and kicks up my energy. Instead of thinking of a partner as the words imply, be the partner to yourself and give yourself some love.

“Happy” by Pharell Williams is another one I like. I’m sure you have your favorites.

3 >>> Here’s a link to a great self-appreciation mini-break. I love this one too… 10 seconds of cheering applause you can play a few times. Download it to your phone or computer and listen to it often. It’ll do wonders to put you in Wow mind!

Again, really bask in the applause. Feel the cheering is for YOU! How amazing and brilliant you are. Take it into your body. Feel it energizing all your cells with joyful sounds.

You can also find online alarm clocks that will play applause when the timer goes off. That’s fun too, especially if you work with time blocks to accomplish your tasks.

One Last Thing…

I encourage you to take a few minutes and watch this video with Todd Herman and Marie Forleo on 5 Steps to Change Your Life and Make it Stick. There’s info not only on this oww-wow mind I mention here, but reasons why our bodies get stuck so easily in the oww spiral. And, how to move out of that.

How does this resonate for you?

Do you find it easy to celebrate all your wins? Or are you often spinning down into Oww mind? What are some other ways you might shift into Wow mind? Leave a comment below.