Episode 185: Celebrating Small Wins - Starting with this Being Podcast 200!
Episode 200! Today, we reflect on the significance of celebrating small wins, emphasizing their role in fostering motivation, confidence, momentum, positivity, learning, and team spirit. We look at various ways to celebrate achievements, from sharing with others to setting new goals. Finally, we will examine the value of recognizing and cherishing each step in the journey toward success.
It's terrific to have you join me, Randall, on this special edition of Around with Randall. Today, we celebrate, or at least I do, podcast number 200. When I began this adventure a little over three years ago, I never put the number 200 out there as a benchmark or as a celebratory point, but I find myself looking back at, if you include this one, 185 of the classroom style, podcasts that we've done, take one subject, take it apart, give some answers, and then the 15 specials that we've done on the great philanthropists and what we could learn from them, bringing us right here to number 200 and to really mark this podcast.
We will parallel the thought process of looking at 200 and talk about the importance of celebrating small wins. It is important in a complicated world that we realize a lot of good things happen to us, even when there seems to be a lot of things up in the air, a lot of uncertainty, whether it's the political environment, whether it's the financial environment, we have nonprofits that are kind of in spaces that are trying to figure things out in terms of changing the way they look at their business model. There's a lot of really incredible small wins that happen to each one of us every day. And yet sometimes I think in working with clients, in particular with gift officers, that they don't take the time to celebrate the things that are really awesome. They may not be huge, but they're important.
So let's start as we do with each one of these classroom conversations, why we should celebrate small wins. So the first thing is realizing that celebrating small wins, small victories, is about progress. And dictionary.com defines progress as to move forward and to proceed to develop higher, better, or an additional advanced stage. Celebrating small wins isn't just about the psychological, we're going to talk about that here in a second, but it's also a tactical issue in keeping yourself moving forward with whatever you're going through. So if you are a gift officer, did you get that appointment? That should be a celebration. I wouldn't say take five days off and don't do anything, but small ones. And we'll talk about how to celebrate here as a tactical piece in just a little bit, different options you might have. But you can't move forward a lot of times until you celebrate. Or at least acknowledge that you took a step in a larger process. We tend to think of wanting to do the large s, the grant instead of getting to realizing that life and goals are actually a series of smaller steps and celebrating those smaller steps when accomplished is critically important. It as the definition says allows you to develop a higher, better, more advanced stage. Actually, a more deeper, more engaged, larger, reward for the next step for the next celebration.
But there's a psychological perspective on all this as well. Study done in 2007 by Stephen Kramer and Teresa Ambil really looked at this from the perspective of the work environment. What they did was is they worked within 26 different prospect teams or project teams, excuse me, which really almost was 240 individuals. And they every day gave them a survey and an opportunity to journal basically. And so over a period of time, this led to 12,000 different die range. Now, as a data nerd, when you look at statistical analysis, that's a lot of data. So it gives a lot of credibility to the force of the outcome. What they found out was is that when they did this, that people who are working and see the small positives in their life celebrated them to steal a little bit, crazy things began to happen. They were more committed to their work, to success. They were more collegial. They saw the team as a vibrant part of their success. They also had an inner piece to their work. They felt good as to who they were. They didn't mention Maslow. And you've heard me and there's a podcast. You can go back and listen to why I love Abraham Maslow and this hierarchy needs. They didn't mention him in the hierarchy needs, but it's almost like self-actualization. Like I like what I do. I like who I am. And that then engenders a higher level of engagement.
This idea of inner work piece or any inner work life. Amazingly, they could find productivity gains when people were celebrating and realizing the positive steps of their day and increase in productivity and performance the next day. Realizing the small wins as you go along has practical outcomes about yourself, you, about your workload, about your relationships, about the things that allow you to be successful. So not only is there a definitional theoretical, philosophical perspective about advancing to higher the next, the more advanced, there is actually data out there in other studies. I picked this one because I liked it the best, that say when we celebrate, when we know we've accomplished something, there is actually from a team environment and our own individual workload, productivity, work effort, practical results based positive outcomes that come with celebrating. In a time when there's a lot of chaos, having moments of either inner or outer celebration for small things that will lift you up is a good thing for everybody.
So this brings us to the idea of thinking about building into celebrating small wins. So what are some of the tactical, all-column outcomes that come from celebrating wins, positive things, on a more regular basis? So the first thing is that there's a motivation boost. When you celebrate a small win, you are more likely to be motivated to take the next step because endorphins are released in your brain. You become addicted. This is where when we talk about walking, running, exercise, people get on consecutive days of exercise or rhythms of exercise. And the reason why is it's actually physical. Endorphins in your brain are released and those are the hormones that make you feel good about who you are and what you're doing. They're uplifting. And what happens when you have these moments of celebration? Endorphins are released and you're more likely to want to repeat that because there's a positive outcome. Your body feel from a philosophical perspective, excuse me, wants to feel that again. So the first thing is there's a motivation boost. Number two is that it helps build confidence. When we do good things, we tend to repeat them. And so if you are a gift officer making phone calls and you get one or two visits from new people or you've closed a gift or the organization has reached some kind of benchmark that they were attempting for the year, the ability to have those things recognized in those moments, maybe not waiting till the end, but in that moment builds confidence for the individual and the team of what they're actually trying to accomplish that it's possible because they did it and that more as possible yet to come.
So, it builds confidence. Number three, if you celebrate moments as you go, it actually builds momentum. One of the reasons I love doing this podcast is I love to teach. I hope that this has value not only today, but maybe the term is evergreen for a long time. And what I have found is that when I do them, it creates a momentum. The reason I've been steadfast about wanting to do one every week isn't to hear my own voice. In fact, I really don't go back and listen to them once they're put to bed. But it's because I want there to be a constant ability to help people for those that need it or want it or looking for it. And the key here for me, and I've said this before on the podcast, and if you know me, a publicly, I have no many idea how many people are listening or watching. I don't do it for that reason. If it helps one person, it was worth it. And so this momentum of wanting to be helpful continues. And that's why I do it every week on Saturdays and Sundays after the kids go to bed at the office in between calls. I'm finding time to do it because it's a priority to keep that momentum moving. Number four, when you celebrate small wins, there's a sense of positivity. Think about an office where everybody's celebrating small wins. And even wins, maybe you look across the room and go, well, it's a little bit of a small win. I'm not sure. The whole environment changes. We need more positive office space. More positive relationships. And this includes our own personal lives. I think about here recently that my wife did some work out in the garden. And we celebrated this, you know, kind of amazing work, at least amazing to me because I can't do it. I don't understand it that she's done to kind of build up this vegetable garden. It's kind of incredible to me. She kind of looked to me like, well, I just is what I do during the day while you're working the kids are school and that's not the big deal. I'm like, it is a big deal. And what we found was is we got more joy with the kids going out there all the time enjoying the growth of the garden. It was a place where positive things happen. The same should be true in your office place for you and your cubicle or office. You want a lot of positive words, thoughts, feelings, emotions, discussions because that's when people show back up people dig in people become a team. Number five, it encourages learning or the idea of growth, particularly when we celebrate things that are new. When I wrote my book, that was an I've written an awful lot before then, but put it in a book was very gratifying. It I learned so much about writing a book if I was to go back and do it again.
I'm not sure the words would change as much as the process would have. All the years I've spent in education have been about learning. I believe in it. So I do the podcast life long learning. What we know is a small wins allows for learning and improvement and we feel good about that and it allows us then to take that learning and apply it in meaningful ways. Number six, it cultivates a team spirit. We too often think of ourselves in organizations as siloed independent hogs in the wheel. And yet by definition, if you have a wheel, it is circular and you have to have the other parts of the wheel to actually spin to work. We are a lot less isolated in siloed than we realize the problem is sometimes we create those silos on our own. Celebrating what small wins as a team brings that team together. A sense of camaraderie, a sense of commonality in what we're trying to accomplish and so this begins a pivot into the second tax appeal. So we have those six things that are crucial to realize small wins produce. They produce motivation. They build confidence. They mean to momentum. They foster positivity. They encourage learning and they build team spirit. So how do you celebrate wins? And this is where even if it's not celebrating your win, I want to make sure if you're a leader and that title can be manager, coordinator, director, assistant director, president, vice president is about leadership. Not only are we should we be fostering or pushing the celebration of our small wins. But if we're a great leader, we should be celebrating other people and helping them celebrate and helping the team celebrate.
So as you think about these different opportunities to celebrate simple things, don't think about them just in the individual performance or individual perspective. Think about them, particularly if you lead other people, how you can help them celebrate, help the team celebrate. So number one is share with others. There are certain things in life I think that we celebrate on our own. I look at health accomplishments. Many people don't like sharing that level of personal information. That doesn't mean you can't celebrate with yourself. But most things can be celebrated either in detail or in generality by just telling someone else, a colleague, a friend, a quick email. You know, if you didn't want to celebrate with someone else, how about write a note to yourself? Telling yourself, I'm really proud of you. Sealing the envelope and then opening the envelope if you didn't know who it was from. If you're going to celebrate as a team though or with others, this is where we gather to gather to acknowledge the either individual, but more likely the team environment. So when I'm coaching my sons and daughters teams, I'm always harping on particularly soccer, but also basketball. They're getting better at passing soccer. We've really pushed that is when somebody scores a goal, did you do that on your own or do you celebrate and recognize someone else? And they're particularly the now to become fifth graders are figuring that out. They know that if they don't go to thank the person or two that got them the ball, ask or two away, I'm going to be all over them because it's just not what they accomplished. It's what we accomplished. So doing something together, sharing it as a group or sharing it with yourself is if it's something personal that isn't meant to be public.
Number two is to reflect and appreciate this is about being proud and excited. Too often we have these small accomplishments, these small victories, these small wins. And we don't want to say anything, it's not that big a deal. You know what? It is a big deal. A lot of the time for you. And if you have great teammates, if you have great friends, if you have great relationships, they will read your excitement and that will elevate their excitement, not because of what was accomplished, but because of the relationship you have. Buying people you can celebrate with if it's appropriate, but most importantly, be proud and excited for what you do, what you've done, even if it's just a small step in a larger process. Number three, reward yourself. There are lots of different ways to do this and they don't cost any money. Now if you want to go spend money, there are other ways to do that too. But take a moment and watch a funny or great video or go outside and just look at the clouds for five minutes.
I live in Nebraska as a fifth generation, Nebraska. Just looking out over the corn fields. Now I have to drive out of almost do that. But what is it that simplistic that just brings you a sense of peace? Listen to a great song. Listen to something that's uplifting. Dance with your team. You know, I, I, my niece got married and our 11-year-old surprised all of us by being a dance monster. He was so happy and excited to be dancing. He stole the wedding show, reception show. But what came of it was a sense of joy with all of these people, including his mother and I, just watching him dance crazily and smiling and laughing. Those moments don't come often. That is joy, finding ways like dancing in a group crazily. You'd be surprised how much joy that brings. Look in the mirror and tell yourself that you're proud of yourself that you're awesome. Self-affirmation. I don't mean to be Stuart Smalley from the Saturday Night Live fame. But I would say there is incredible value in saying you're a good person and you're doing great things. Lastly, do something for you. Get a massage. Maybe it's, you know, if you want to spend some money, go buy something. What can you do to reasonably or small things? Give yourself small rewards that can amplify that feeling of accomplishment.
Number four is kind of the, what I think of is the checklist. Check it off the list. You know, update your progress. If it's a checklist, a sticker chart, we do this with our kids stickers. Hey, they get two stickers. I don't care what stickers they get. I want them to see accomplishment celebrate that. There's great. Well, at least for me when I check things off my list, great joy in saying that that done all right. We're moving on. Number five, don't forget to set new goals. This should not be the end destination. There is a sense of accomplishment. And then there's a greater joy in saying I can do the next thing if you do this right. That's the momentum you want to carry forward. We talked about a few minutes ago. And it continues then to grow that, that passion that comes from wanting to get more of those endorses for the celebrations of accomplishment. Number six is in some way, she performed and I do believe this. And this kind of dovetails into number five with, oh, excuse me, with number four with updating progress. You need to document this. I have two checklists, one's business development, one's business per say clients and office work. And I'm always putting things in there. Part of it is, is help me remember to get them done. But I cannot tell you how much joy there is in getting that check mark. I mentioned that a second ago. If you don't document this, it actually doesn't have the same outcome. It doesn't mean it's not important. But documentation of wins either big or small is a sense of motivation. This is why in weight loss, they tell you to weigh yourself every once in a while, gratitude journals in terms of your ability to talk about what you're grateful for have profound effect on, and you can celebrate your wins there. Documenting what's going on can be a really strong positive.
The last one, I had to think about for a while as I was kind of jotting some notes down. I find myself going to exercise, taking a walk in my case after many times, after success, celebrating a small win. I put on a podcast, usually something no one else will ever want to listen to on financial policies of strange countries or, you know, the workings of an economy. Sometimes about Nebraska football, which tends to be more depressing for the last decade than positive, but I celebrate by going to take a walk. It cultivates a positive mindset. Go work out, go take a walk, walk around the building, smile. Those are just some of the ways that we can celebrate, not just individually, but collectively. And I want to implore once again, as I started that list, implore leaders, I don't care what your title is, to help others celebrate their successes, because that's going to elevate you, them, and the team when you do so.
There's two last things that I just want you to be aware of. It doesn't make a difference what the celebration is. It just has to be meaningful to you. Whatever that is, find that and live with that. Some people will celebrate by doing something big. Some people will celebrate by doing something small. It's not relevant. It's about what you value. What's important to you? And don't forget, it's the journey, not the destination. The joy in getting somewhere, accomplishing something, if done correctly, is about the journey, the people, the learned experiences, the swimming, all those small wins, the journey, not just getting to the destination. I'm not saying you shouldn't have a destination. But what I am saying is, is don't the small wins are about celebrating that journey and the time and the effort and the people who either helped you or those things that were part of that process.
All of this gets us to think about it. Small wins give us a great deal of joy. It shouldn't mean you become overconfident if you have too many. That's when we get smacked down and realize we've got to build back up. But it's about the ability to believe on ourselves and what we do. And so for podcast number 200, the way I look at this is that I have shared this information with you all or anybody else, maybe there'll be some LinkedIn posts and other things. And I'm proud and excited. I really am. And again, it's not because it's number 200, but I've heard from a number of people that this helps them in the various things they work through personal professional tactical, whatever, which brings me incredible joy. It's a checklist because I got one done this week, going to be done as soon as I hit stop on the record. It's going to be documented because it's going to be put into podcasts and videos and YouTube and all the places I don't understand where they go. And believe or not, I'm going to go take a walk with my strange podcasts and nod my head and say nicely done, Randall, maybe you helped one person out there, celebrate your wins. I'll celebrate this one. And for any or all of the podcasts you've joined, I want to say thank you for joining me on the journey. It what has been a journey. And I look forward, by the way, to the next 200 if I can get there. Don't forget to check out the blogs at Hallett philanthropy.com. If you want to reach out to me, it's podcast@hallettphilanthropy.com.
My all time favorite saying, which you've heard me say at the end of each one of these podcasts, and if you've heard me speak, do it there as well. Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen. Then there are those who wondered what happened. What I've learned is that we come into life from the moment we're born to the minute we die and we are one of those three, usually not two, just one. The great thing about philanthropy about the work I've been privileged to do for a little over with internships in all 28, 29 years to the work you do to the work with people you work with in the work they do. Donors, board members, leaders, whomever is that nonprofit work is all about people making things happen for the things in the people in our world and our lives in our community that are wondering what happened. It's a pretty cool way. Celebrate that when, every day, because there's no better way to spend a career when you really don't think you go to work because you're making a difference for somebody else. I look forward to seeing you next time right back here on the next edition, the next 200, at least the start of them right here on a round with Randall. Appreciate you. Don't forget, make it a great day.