Why should you celebrate progress?

Progress is a very important part of a solution-focused coaching conversation. It’s an even more important part of living a happy life. 

It is easy to get caught up in a busy life and to overlook the progress we’ve made towards our goals while life moves forward. But not taking time to reflect on your own progress can be a costly mistake. We risk feeling stuck or living with the mistaken belief that there has been no progress at all.

How can I get past this?

To get past this, you only need to take a little time to measure where you are, against where you were. And the nice thing is that you get to set the parameters. I recommend looking six months or one year into the past for this exercise, and that you measure something that is important to you. Doing so most often leads to discoveries that real progress has been made. 

For example

Here is personal example of mine. One year ago today, I was in the middle of what would turn out to be an 8-month process of editing my Talk2MorePeople book with my editor. It took much longer than I expected and at that time, I still wondered if I would ever publish the book. 

But six months ago today, on January 21, 2021 I did indeed publish that book! And now it has sold 246 copies in 10 countries. As the author, with this accomplishment I have the option to view the cup as half empty or half full. I can lament that I’ve only sold 246 copies because I set a goal to sell 1000 copies in my first year. But I also have the choice to enthusiastically celebrate that I’ve sold 246 copies which far exceeds the statistical average of less than 100 copies from %90 of indie authors. Furthermore, the book has a perfect 5 star rating on Amazon worldwide. 

I have made the choice to celebrate this progress which is why I’m writing today. Here are the main these three reasons that I’ve made this choice:

  1. I am genuinely proud of this accomplishment. I have learned that it is far more important to take time to celebrate accomplishments rather than to continuously seek new challenges to “level up”. Happiness is an inside job.

  2. I know that acknowledging progress is something that I used to struggle with, and doing so just makes me feel positive. I know and believe that I deserve to feel good, and so do you. I get to share this positivity with those around me and with the clients who I am fortunate to work with. Doing so creates a virtuous cycle.

  3. Taking time to remember how I felt “back then” really helps put into perspective just how far I’ve come. It pays to slow down and to think about this from time to time.

So what progress have you been overlooking? It might be helpful to have a friend or a coach ask you this question as it can be easier to view someone else’s accomplishments as more significant than our own. Sometimes we are blinded by our own perspective. 

In case you are curios the book has landed in Canada, the USA, UK, Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, South Africa and Australia thus far. In case you are really, really curious, take a moment to view another project that I am making progress on. It’s a course that I’ll lead starting in September and it’s called, The Human Connection Adventure.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Now, what progress do you deserve to celebrate today?

International facilitator, virtual event producer and Solution-Focused coach Tony Esteves is passionate about creating human connection. He is the author of “Talk2MorePeople: Change Your Life by Meeting People” and holds a B.A. in Communication Studies. When not facilitating live, or managing virtual events, Tony can be found hiking in the Rocky Mountains west of Calgary or performing in the circus.