The end of a mandate or the start of holidays, like summer vacation or the winter holiday season, are excellent times to take stock of the past year or months. Even more important: it’s an ideal time to celebrate and savour your professional successes. You’ll have a better mindset for diving back into work with confidence and motivation!

We asked Benoît Savard, president of Skillable and expert in leadership development, for some tips on how to become aware of our accomplishments and celebrate them.

1. Press pause

Let’s be honest: a proper assessment requires time and tranquillity. Better to plan ahead and clear space in your schedule.

Talk with your friends and colleagues, keep a progress journal, ponder on your own while walking the dog… There’s no one way to do this. The idea is to step back for a minute, so you can better analyze the ground covered with total honesty. “[This is] a key step in recognizing your growth,” explains Benoît Savard.

2. Identify and acknowledge your professional successes

To do this, take note if one or more things have changed in your life. “Ask yourself these questions: are you now able to accomplish something you couldn’t before? Can you do more when carrying out a task?” suggests Benoît Savard. And lastly, becoming aware of the results you have produced is a must. This is your “accomplishment.”

For Benoît Savard, there are two types of accomplishments:

• Invisible accomplishments: these are internal, and you’re the only one who sees them. Marking them is essential to your continued progress. This could, for example, lead you to better self-confidence. Never underestimate the importance that this change can have on your visible accomplishments.
• Visible accomplishments: these are the results obtained thanks to your invisible accomplishments, and these can be celebrated publicly. You can, for instance, be more assertive, dare to speak up during team meetings, and make suggestions with poise and confidence.

3. Celebrate your successes!

 “People saw a change in me,” says Marie-Josée Bhérer, a graduate of the Défi 100 jours, the French counterpart of the Ambition Challenge. Sharing your successes publicly and talking about them will help you become aware of them and continue your growth. “Most of all, don’t hesitate to share your success with your professional circle,” advises Benoît Savard. Many companies integrate celebratory rituals into their management to highlight individual accomplishments. If this is not the case for you, get this started (with your friends and family, colleagues, or life partner) to see what essential accomplishments you may have achieved in the past weeks or months and savour your professional successes.

4. Set new goals

As the Défi 100 jours ended, program graduate Sabrina Poirier was already preparing to set new goals for herself. Having worked on her mindset and body language, she plans to keep the momentum going and take on other challenges in the new year.

This is a good reflex, explains Benoît Savard, in which it’s vital to think promptly about new, even more, daring goals. “Don’t let nostalgia set in when the time for celebrating is over. Focus on the path forward!”

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