Why Celebrating Small Wins Matter

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Every celebration does not have to be grand. Sometimes we have to take a moment to reflect on the progress of what we have accomplished in the moment or real time. It is not only successful when we get to our end goal, but those things that helped us along the way to get to the bigger goal is just as important.

Celebrating small wins builds confidence. When you celebrate the small wins, you build up the belief in yourself that you can get to the end goal. When your confidence grows, you position yourself to face new challenges and to keep going. 

Celebrating only the large goals can become overwhelming or far away, its recognizing and celebrating the tiny milestones along the way that gives you a sense of accomplishment and the motivation to keep moving forward. 

Another thing that celebrating small wins does is, it reduces fear and the stress of your end goal being far away and it prevents burnout. Constantly focusing on what you have not accomplished is exhausting. Taking the time to appreciate what you have achieved creates balance and places you in a better mindset. This will also help you to develop more positive habits. When you take the time to review your progress, it will encourage you to go forward, and over time, these small celebrations will become lasting habits. Instead of dwelling on setbacks or the things you did not get done, celebrating small wins helps you focus on growth, and on what is going well. 

One small victory can lead to another, creating a ripple effect that makes larger goals feel more attainable. This is especially true for black women and girls because being aware of our small wins is an act of self-affirmation, and we need that. Too often are our achievements overlooked, but the expectations for black women and girls remain high. We must take the time to honor our personal and professional milestones, whether it's completing a course, advocating for yourself, starting a business, prioritizing self-care, or simply making it through a difficult week, your journey no matter what it is, is worthy of recognition. We must celebrate the small wins to see how far we have come with resilience, strength, and growth.

An example of celebrating small wins and why it is important was when I was in college. I was always thinking about the end goal of graduating college with a degree and not really paying attention to the small wins like making the Dean’s list several times or the positive comments my professors would make on my papers. Now looking back, I recognize that those small things were what encouraged me me to keep going. 

At CABWCEI, we don't overlook the small victories, we honor them, because it’s our mission to build confidence, strengthen communities, and remind black women and girls that their progress matters, so celebrate the small wins, honor the Journey, and recognize the growth.