CELEBRATE!

You have gotten Ready; taken Aim and planned for action; prepared and taken action to Succeed; and now it’s time to identify the Why for your goals—the What’s in it for You—and Celebrate progress and success.

Defining the Why illuminates the reward or the benefit of achieving your goals. A specific reward is more motivating and more likely to drive you to take the necessary action.

Often I hear people say their reward is to earn more. But is that the real reward, the real What’s in it for You? What does that extra money do for you? Is it to buy something, pay off debt, or give your family something specific? Rewards are unique to each person. Identify a specific reward or What’s in it for You for each goal. Whether big or small, make the rewards relevant and something that helps drive you to achieve the goal.

These rewards could be a dinner at a special restaurant with your spouse or significant other, a day of biking with the club, a golf event with a friend, a day off from working out, an ice cream treat, quiet time to read a book, a “happy dance” (one of my favorites), or your name on a plaque or trophy.

The reward needs to be important enough for you to want to achieve the goal. Broad rewards are a good start, for example:

• Get my boss off my back.

• Keep my job.

• Feel good.

• Have less stress.

• Enjoy better health.

And finally, it’s important to take the time to pause and celebrate. Take time to pay yourself the reward you identified. As an Achiever, I don’t pause enough when I complete a goal. I move right into the next one. Thank goodness my stakeholders stop me and hold me accountable to celebrate.

If you want to increase your motivation to complete the necessary actions, find ways to celebrate progress, not just the final outcome. Don’t hold out on acknowledging your progress or success because you are so focused on what isn’t yet done. That trap will drain your energy. Find ways to enjoy your journey and acknowledge or celebrate the milestones along the way.

There you have it, an easy-to-follow process to achieve what you want. Each element of the process is important and probably easier than you might think. Use the Goal Planner to guide you through the specific elements. The key is to get started.

I’ve given you a lot of information about how to skillfully and willfully have conversations that count. And although information is powerful, it is only powerful when put to good use. To ensure you benefit from the time you invested in reading the book, I end with a quote by Walt Disney: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”