For many of us, 2016 was a doozy, but we here at Brit + Co are ready to hit refresh in 2017! Follow our Hit Refresh series through January for new ideas, hacks and skills that will help you achieve (and maintain!) those New Year’s resolutions.
While it can be ultra-challenging to stay the course when you’re starting habits like cooking healthy recipes regularly or saving more money, there are lots of ways to keep your momentum and good vibes going in 2017. One of our fave hacks to stay motivated is celebrating small wins, which will help you feel good about making strides in the right direction. For some major inspiration, we checked in with a handful of successful small biz owners and bloggers to understand how they harness the power of every tiny milestone. Read on to get ideas of how to treat yo’self for early success, and then head back to whatever you’re working on with newfound energy. You’ve got this, girl.
Sleeping In
Mella Barnes, a super talented vocalist, tells us that her big goal is all about growing her client base this year. “My goal for January was to double my client base — and I realized I had already done that within the first week of the month! Granted, last January I had just started my business, so it was a pretty easy number to beat (haha) but still… small wins, right? It gave me a huge boost and I celebrated by sleeping in a couple hours the next day. I normally wake up around 9am, so waking up closer to noon felt so luxurious,” Mella says.
An Impromptu Dance Session (+ Lots of High Fives)
“One of my goals for 2017 has been to create and maintain a sustained social media presence. I started in late November and have been posting daily,” Lisa Hennessy from Your Pet Chef explains. “Our social media goals are to get more new client questionnaire submissions, increase our reach to potential customers and to help break my mindset of being ‘too salesy.’ Monitoring our progress weekly, we’ve been slowly but surely succeeding. I’ve now become less shy about putting a comment like ‘If you’d like more info, hit the link in our bio,’ which is a BIG step for me.” Lisa goes on to proudly gush, “I celebrate these wins each week with a dance session with my dogs. Also, I share the progress with my younger sister and give people high fives!”
Indulging With Friends
Celebrating is always more fun when you can share the joy with people around you — especially those who have supported your passion from the start. Laci Texter, founder of digital marketing agency Texter Communications, agrees. “My friends are *so* wonderful and always happy to share in a celebration with me. This might mean a girls’ night out, a massage or simply a quick text to congratulate me on a goal achieved. I’m fortunate to have a few friends in the city I went to middle and high school with back in Georgia, and it’s truly heartening for us to share in each other’s accomplishments as we take on everything NYC throws at us!” Laci says.
Planning for the Future
Author and blogger Emily Steers shares, “This past weekend, I bit the bullet and offered my debut novel for free on Amazon. I was reluctant to do so because I do believe strongly in valuing artists and their creative work. But I wasn’t expecting my novel to start rocketing up the most-downloaded lists. It certainly was a little success — no monetary gain, of course — but to get my book to over 300 new people in the span of two days? That was a heck of a success.”
To celebrate, Emily told us she dug right into future planning (after dancing in the rain in Los Angeles, of course). “To further focus on the ‘success’ part, my subconscious celebration was to finally break my writer’s block. I’ve spent the last few days plotting out future marketing steps and goals and finishing my second book. But even that hard work still feels like a celebration, since there’s a reason to think about the future.”
Checking Something Off the Bucket List
In a super cool celebration, Gillian Small from Gillian Small PR tells us, “I read an article a few years ago that many businesses fail in the first 18 months. Determined to be the exception, I set small goals month-to-month to ensure I could surpass that 18-month mark. When I hit that 18-month mark, I immediately booked a flight from NYC out to The Price Is Right in LA to celebrate.” She went on to confess, “I’d always been a fan of the show, and it was my dream to give it a shot to be a contestant. I went to the show by myself. Spoiler alert: I got to be a contestant, and even played for a car! It was so gratifying celebrating my small professional win by taking the chance to accomplish a lifelong personal dream.”
RELAXATION AND REJUVENATION
“In my business, I have a pretty big income goal for myself for the first 90 days of the year,” Sara Dann, a marketing strategist for Beachbody coaches tells us. “I celebrate each week that I’m on track for that goal with a trip to the spa — either with a massage or facial!” Sara says this allows her to reward herself for all of her hard work and that it totally gives her the relaxation and rejuvenation she needs to keep it up. Sounds perfect to us!
Which small win are you most proud of? How did you highlight and celebrate it? Share your story with us @BritandCo!
(Photos via Getty)
