During our coaching engagements, we talk about your I Want statement (that's the big goal that you're working towards).  While uncovering and discovering your I Want, we also talk about what success looks like and feels like.  What are the thoughts, actions, and behaviors that reflect the achievement of that I Want statement?  How will you measure that success to know you've arrived at it?

We also talk about rewards and celebrations for both big and small results.  What are you going to do privately and publicly (or, within your support network) to celebrate hitting those milestones,  actualizing those achievements, bringing whatever it is you WANT into your life?

Here's why this is important: celebrating gives you a moment to reflect back on your accomplishments and to remember why that goal was important to you.  It gives you a moment to give thanks for the personal accountability you've brought to yourself and reinforces motivation.  If you believe in manifesting practices, acknowledging and honoring success will bring more success your way.  If you were to google "why celebrating success is important," you'll see hundreds of search results with variations on these themes.  However, what matters most is you.  YOU did this.  YOU accomplished this.  YOU deserve to celebrate you.

So, what are are you doing to celebrate yourself?  As you prioritize others this season, make sure you're also rewarding yourself for your progress, your achievements, and the fact that you're pretty badass.

Do me a favor: leave me a little note about how you celebrate yourself and your successes.  Is it a long walk?  A Wendy's Frosty?  A dance part in your kitchen?  One more episode of that binge-worthy show on tv?

This one's gonna be quick.

When we sit down together to identify your "I Want" statement (that's the big goal that brought you to coaching), I'm going to ask you a series of follow-on questions.  They usually go something like this:

• What does success look like to you?
• How will you approach your life or business (or both) as you arrive at your goal?
• What will you be doing differently when you've been successful in achieving this goal?

I ask you these questions because I want to make sure it's clear to both of us what we're working towards.  I want to make sure you hear yourself establishing milestones, intended behaviors or thought processes, and that you begin to envision yourself in success.  This is a crucial component of self-accountability.

Then, I'm going to ask you a follow-up question that my clients always, always get annoyed at me for bringing up:  How are we going to measure your progress?  (I'm going to pause here to say that if the opening chords of Seasons of Love just started worming their way into your ear... well... you're welcome.)

It's not a trick question. You've told me only moments ago how success appears against your senses.  This "ugh" question forces you to quantify the qualitative:  Where are you (today), where do you want to go (your goal), where are you challenged (the Funknown) and where are you making progress (measures).  Measures-- or metrics, if you're  Six Sigma kinda person-- drive your goals and catapult your achievements.  They are unique to you and reflect what's important to you.

If we don't know what we're measuring your progress towards your success, then how will we know when to celebrate?