Here are some things to think about when you approach your own life milestones:
If the milestone is a lifelong achievement like running a marathon or battling and overcoming a disease, I think we all know that this is something to celebrate. Do you? I encourage you to actually pause to rejoice in the journey you took to get to the final destination. Share your story of success with others, to allow them to possibly learn something so they, too, may have renewed motivation to achieve their own milestone in life.
What if the milestone is a little smaller? Maybe you have just gone a whole week and actually stayed on your diet or you have finally finished that household project that has been taunting you for years. How about the fact that while you have been dragging your feet for years, you finally set up a college fund for your child or you completed successfully a move into a home that is more manageable for you. We tend to forget these intermediate milestones that happen around us every day.
Take the time to think about your successes every day and acknowledge them in some way. Write them down if you can. When you have a sad day or a time when you are feeling as though you haven't accomplished anything, you can look back at what you have written down to motivate yourself to get up and do it all again tomorrow.
So, I am turning 50 this year. I can see it as a negative, that I am no longer "in my 40's" and the best half of my life is over and I better just wait for the AARP letter in the mail; or I can look back at the accomplishments of the last 50 years, celebrate a wonderful family, reminisce about some awesome life adventures having lived in several different parts of the country, be thankful for a profession that I love to participate in every day and appreciate the ability to get up and decide what I can and want to do next. Which perspective would you take?
My life before 50 is preparation for what I want to do for the next 50 years. What will you do with your milestone achievements? Appreciate them, ignore them or use them to motivate you for even more wonderful things ahead? The choice is yours.
I would love to hear about your latest milestones and how you have celebrated them and share some in next month's newsletter.
In a nutshell, when you approach life milestones of any size, acknowledge the good, give credit where credit is due, invite others to celebrate with you and most of all, look at those milestones.........From the Positive Perspective.