Celebration and Self-Reward

The strategic importance of celebration

A fundamental error in career management and emotional well-being is the systematic omission of celebration.

Often, when we reach an important milestone, whether it's completing a difficult project or landing a new client, the immediate tendency is to move on to the next goal on the list without pausing.

This behavior feeds what is known as the "hedonic treadmill": we constantly run without ever reaching a state of satisfaction.

It is imperative to understand that celebration is not an act of vanity, but a psychological mechanism of closure and recognition.

If we do not pause to recognize the effort and the result, the brain does not register success as such, which in the long run leads to burnout.

We must learn to pause at the "viewpoint" of our achievements, take a breath and appreciate the altitude climbed before continuing the ascent, thus validating our own trajectory.

Implementing reward systems

To solidify new behaviors and combat the feeling of imposter, it is helpful to establish a tangible reward system.

There is no need to wait for others (bosses, clients) to validate us; we must become our own benefactors.

These rewards can vary in scale: from large symbolic investments, such as renovating the workspace or acquiring a desired object after a financial success, to small everyday pleasures.

A best practice is to integrate "treats" or incentives into the daily routine.

For example, assign yourself three small rewards a day: two for completing tedious tasks and one for pure pleasure.

By associating effort with an immediate positive reward, we retrain the brain to stop associating hard work exclusively with stress and start linking it with satisfaction and self-care.

The daily record of victories

Since our mind has a bias toward the negative, we must consciously force it to see the positive. An effective tool for this is the "victory log".

It consists of writing down daily, in a visible place, the small wins that we normally take for granted or dismiss as insignificant.

This includes everything from receiving a thank you email to having handled a difficult situation calmly.

By documenting these "micro-victories," we build an archive of irrefutable evidence of our competence and value.

This habit counteracts the internal narrative