Celebrating Personal Wins
When you have 5 tests, 2 projects, and tons of french homework due it isn’t easy to prioritize yourself and balance life with school. Finding this balance is essential to living a healthy, happy life, trust, I learned that the hard way. Sometimes, school and life just seem so overwhelming that you just shut down. Me, being the big procrastinator I am, always push all my work to the last minute because I shut down at the thought of having all this work due. I know that all students have been in this situation before and I am here to share ways to overcome this mental block and accomplish all your tasks while not burning out. The best way is to celebrate all your wins, this keeps you motivated to keep moving forward. Celebrating your personal wins is essential to growing and developing as a person. It can boost your confidence as it helps you remind yourself of all that you are capable of doing, and how you can overcome any challenge you put your mind to. It also increases your motivation which will encourage you to tackle more tasks in the future. This coincides with your happiness because the satisfaction of acknowledging your wins is essential for your well-being. Lastly, celebrating wins also fosters a sense of resilience within you which will help you develop a positive mindset where you focus on progress over perfection.
Just last week, I was completely slumped with work. I wrote down everything I had to finish for the weekend and the long list scared me. Even though I had the whole day to work and start getting stuff done, I didn't. I completely shut down and lost motivation to do anything. I was constantly searching for other tasks to keep me busy from my school work. I was frustrated and felt terrible being so unproductive. However, after talking to my mom who gave me inspiration to get up and start, I finished all my work. Days worth of assignments were done in a couple hours. I have never felt so productive in my life and this didn’t go unrewarded. I took some time to reset by doing what I enjoy doing, whether it’s sketching, dancing, or binge watching Squid Games for the 4th time. Looking back at that day, I realized how a change in mindset changed the course of the whole day. If I mopped around that whole day I wouldn’t have had that satisfactory feeling of productivity. This was my win. Getting up and starting was enough to celebrate and I believe that other kids need to realize that too.
Putting too much pressure on yourself will definitely show in your mental health or even your physical health. First, it’s important to understand that achieving something means different to everyone. They’re called “personal wins” for a reason. Just like how me getting out of my bed to do my homework is a win, but for someone else it may seem really stupid to celebrate that. It’s important to establish a system with yourself to celebrate what YOU consider a win, not what the smartest kid in your calc class considers a win. Once you’ve established this system, find ways to celebrate yourself. This could be really easy and simple like talking to a family member or a friend, spending time with a loved one, listening to music, watching a show, etc. Or you could do something slightly more creative like creating a win jar, journaling, scrapbooking, or even having a self-care day.
No matter how big or small this mini celebration is, make sure that you are celebrating yourself because you deserve it :). Remember that a win is a win, no matter how big or small.
Sami Katari - Writer
Julia Li - Editor
