Dance with Your Victories: Setting Goals That Build on Success by LA Bourgeois

Let’s welcome back LA Bourgeois as she shares with us “Dance with Your Victories: Setting Goals That Build on Success.” Enjoy!

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During this last part of the year, amid the gift giving and swarm of things we want to finish by the arbitrary deadline of December 31, we begin planning the coming year. Setting new goals. Discovering new projects. Mapping out when all these things will happen.

But have you celebrated your successes during 2024?

We spend a lot of time thinking about everything that didn’t get done, the things we wish we did, the goals that didn’t get reached, ways that we failed.

That’s normal. 

Humans are built to be on the lookout for the bad and dangerous to keep ourselves safe.

However, have you considered what went right? It’s totally legal to do this. As Tom Rath discusses in his book, “Strengths Finder,” focusing on your strengths can result in making more progress on the things that you love.

Plus, when you give attention to what’s going right, the weaknesses that actually hold back your progress reveal themselves. And they’re not usually the ones we’ve been giving all of our time to.

Heck, yeah! Let’s start the celebration!

Ten Successes

Start by making a list of ten successes from the past year. This can be as small as “Finished a Pen” (which unlocks a new level in your writer identity!) or as large as “self-published my first book.”

And don’t feel like you have to hold yourself to just the writer part of your life. Add anything fabulous, fantastic or just plain okay to this list.

Once you’ve gotten to ten, add a couple more. And when you can’t think of any others, try to add a few more to the list.

(Secret coaching trick: Pushing through the block where you can’t think of anything else and adding just one or two extra items to your list helps your brain unfold and deliver even more. Most times, more good things will show up!)

With your new list of fabulousness that happened last year, celebrate those accomplishments! This is definitely a situation that calls for chocolate, a celebratory tipple and a dance! Shall we boogie? Never Gonna Not Dance Again

After you’ve recovered from your celebration (Fight for Your Right to Party), now’s the time to begin looking forward. So, how can you build on what went right?

Building on What Went Right

Let’s go back to your list of everything fabulous! Go through and circle the items that relate to your writing and associated goals.

Now choose the three that excited you the most. From that selection, grab one and let’s do some journaling.

• What made this particular item a triumph?
• What were the strengths that helped make it work?

List each one and provide your evidence. For example, “I’m tenacious! I always return to the work so I finished my book.”

Repeat with the other two victories.

When you’ve finished creating that list of strengths, admire how fabulous you are for a moment.

Done already? Take a few more moments. Really savor this! Spend a few days adding to the list and writing down more evidence.

As this pile of strengths grows, consider your options.

Ask yourself how you can improve those strengths.

What goals can you set that support that improvement?

Let the ideas tumble through your mind. Get audacious. Allow those grand visions to blossom. And make sure to write them down! We don’t want to lose anything.

While this process unfolds, play. Let your curiosity guide you into investigations of delight and excursions that inspire. Enjoy the holidays. If it feels comfortable, take a little time off from your writing to provide the necessary energy to do this process.

On January 1st (or 2nd, depending on the hangover), peruse that list of goals and begin planning your year of improving your strengths.

And that will be an article for another time!

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ABOUT LA BOURGEOIS

LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois is a Kaizen-Muse Certified Creativity Coach and author who helps clients embrace the joy of their creative work and thrive while doing it.

Get more of her creativity ideas and techniques by subscribing to her newsletter at https://subscribepage.io/unlockyourcreativity.