Having ADHD often comes with a bias towards negativity. Negativity bias is when we put more weight or value on our negative experiences over the positive ones. That means, on average, it takes 3 positive experiences (or wins) to outweigh just 1 negative experience (or failure).
If you struggle with a negative bias, you are definitely not alone. Personally, this has been one of the hardest things for me. Thankfully, early on in my ADHD journey, I learned the power of celebrating wins and focusing on the positives. (I even built a brand around it!)
What better way to kick off these newsletters than with the topic that started it all?
HERE WE GO:
4 Tips to Celebrating Wins:
Celebrate Small:
All wins are worth celebrating, but especially small ones when it comes to living with ADHD. Truly celebrating a win releases dopamine in the brain; that dopamine reinforces the positive connection to that experience. So why wouldn’t you want to celebrate more often?! Small wins are things that are simple, but may NOT be easy for you. Celebrating even the smallest wins can start to make meaningful changes in self-esteem, productivity, mood and much more!
For me, small wins look like: brushing my teeth, standing up for myself, remembering to eat lunch and actually waking up on time!
Celebrate Early:
Some tasks are bigger and include a lot more steps than others. When working on something that feels big, it is important to celebrate your progress along the way! This will heavily increase your chances of completing the task. Something that has helped me track and remember to celebrate progress is writing out the steps before starting a task and crossing them off as I complete them!
Celebrate Daily:
Have you tried adding in a daily shutdown at the end of your day? A daily shutdown is simply a specific time set aside to reflect. Currently, I do my daily shutdown at the end of my work day, but you could also do it right before bed for your entire day! During my daily shutdown, I answer the same 3 questions every day:
What were the highlights of my day?
When was I at my best today?
What felt the hardest today?
Feel free to come up with your own questions that feel good to you and to change those questions whenever you feel like it!
Celebrate at the Top:
The things I have had the hardest time celebrating are the big things! In the last 3 months of 2022 alone, I found out Kelsey and I were going to be parents, I appeared on the Dr. Phil show (!!!), Winning with ADHD hit 100,000 followers on Instagram and I got to attend the International ADHD Conference in Dallas. Not once did I stop to celebrate and take it all in! Instead, I instantly ask myself, “What’s next?”, in a never-ending pursuit to prove myself. Can you relate? If so, I challenge you to schedule 20-30 minutes this week and look back at the last big memory that comes to mind (for me, this is when I left my corporate job in 2021 to start my work in ADHD). What have you accomplished since then, but didn’t take time to pause and celebrate?
I would love to engage with you! So, in the comment section:
What are some small wins that you should be celebrating?
Share a daily shutdown question of your own.
Share 1 or 2 big things you are proud of so that we can celebrate with you!
Interested in working with me?
I am now offering a 60 minute, one-time Strategy and Planning session! I am only opening up space for 2 of these sessions each day through April 30th. This offer will go public on Monday, April 10th. That’s right! This offer is only available to you as a subscriber! If you would like to sign up for one, CLICK HERE to schedule! I can’t wait to work with you! Feel free to drop any questions about my coaching in the comments as well.