We don't know about you, but we've grown tired of our endless to-do lists.
While we know that having a list helps us stay focused and not drop any important balls (most of the time anyway), to-do lists are such energy zappers because no matter how much we get done, there's always more to add to the list.
What if we introduced you to a practice that is energy-giving instead of energy-zapping? One that could actually make you feel so much better about your to-do list? That would be awesome, yes?
Introducing the Ta-Da list. Like in, "Ta-Da! I'm celebrating what I accomplished - go me, go me!"
At this point you might be thinking, "Yeah, sure Jill and Angelle, like I'm going to take more time out of my already-too-full days to celebrate what I've done. You go ahead; me, I'm going to throw together a dinner that hopefully everyone will eat without rolling their eyes at me and then I'll be cleaning up the kitchen to do it all over tomorrow morning at 6 a.m.!"
This is the thing. When you only focus on your long list of what you need to do, and you never stop to CELEBRATE what you've actually done, you are missing out on some majorly powerful brain-building effects.
In the field of neuro-science, research tells us that celebration actually changes your brain in positive ways. Celebrating...
- protects you from harmful effects of the stress hormone cortisol (you know, the one that goes up every time you add something else to your to-do list)
- rewires the brain nightly for further celebration and joy (more goodness tomorrow!)
- amps up your working memory (yes, please!)
- increases serotonin, the happy chemical in your body (and it's free!)
- makes it easier for you to be in a positive mood more often no matter what's going on around you (and there will always be 'stuff' going on around you so why not change the way YOU respond to it?!)
Plus, while this isn't a research-based result, Angelle recently gave this celebration exercise to one of her 1:1 clients. After doing this exercise with her husband she shared with Angelle that "On the Monday after we did the celebration exercise, one of my colleagues told me I looked lighter. I responded that I hadn't lost any weight over the weekend and she said, 'no, you look less stressed and younger'!" (We'll have some of that, please!)
Just a few weeks ago, we did this celebration exercise together for the first time when we went on our first Nourish to Flourish Society working retreat. We created space even in the midst of this very busy holiday season. Staying in a beautiful home along the shore of the majestic Lake Michigan, on the 2nd evening after we enjoyed a lovely dinner and we were sitting by the fireplace, we decided to create our Ta-Da List. We consciously chose to stop and celebrate all of our accomplishments in 2016. Can we just say that our list was long and strong and amazing. We left nothing un-celebrated.
A few of our favorite celebrations included:
- launching The Nourish to Flourish Society
- creating our eBook: 7 Ways to Nourish Yourself Every Day + 7 Recipes You'll Love!
- our working relationship and healthy communication as business partners
- creating a beautiful new website as well as new Instagram and Facebook pages
- creating two 14-Day Seasonal Reset Programs and our 28 Days to Calm Your Cravings Course and supporting hundreds of women in these programs
- hiring a virtual assistant, a graphic designer and a lawyer (Hi Erika, Michael and Lisa!)
- creating our Summer Lovin' Challenge
- doing live coaching calls and videos
- fostering a beautiful relationship with Strawesome, the maker of the glass straws we give away during our programs
- and so much more...
Can you imagine how we felt, after just our first 11 months in business together, celebrating all of this goodness? Every time we look at this list, it lights us up and fuels us to keep moving forward with that long to-do list. Celebrating got us super jazzed up and focused on creating and serving in bigger ways in 2017. We came away from this exercise feeling energized and hopeful and grateful.
What about YOU? How do you want to feel going into 2017? What if you created your very own Ta-Da list and include everything that feels important to you from this past year whether it was cleaning out that bedroom closet to asking for more opportunities at work to helping your teen move through a heartbreak to buying new clothes that you feel good in to investing in yourself in our 14-Day Cleanse or Calm Your Cravings Course to moving your body in a way you love three times a week to bumping up the quality of some of your favorite foods to launching a business or starting a hobby. You get it. Nothing is off limits for celebrating.
HERE'S YOUR FREE TA-DA LIST PDF YOU CAN PRINT AND USE RIGHT NOW!
There is a trick though if you really want to get the most brain-benefits out of this exercise: Right after you create this list, answer the questions below AND do something physical to put yourself in a celebratory mood. Seriously. It could be going for a walk or calling a friend or enjoying a beautiful meal or getting a massage or watching a funny movie or taking a nap or having a sexy date. It could take 5 minutes or it could 5 take hours. AND it's good if you share your celebrating with someone you know will be happy for you. Maybe a celebration get-together with a few friends like Jill did recently???
Here are the Celebration Questions we answered after we created our Ta-Da list and that we want you to answer after you create yours:
- What am I celebrating? (i.e. one special thing on your list or all of it!)
- Why is this important to celebrate? (get REAL, why is this important to YOU?)
- How does this make me feel? (you may not say good, we know you have better language skills than that!)
- What did you have to do to achieve this? (use skills, learn strategies, focus, ask for support, take a risk, prioritize, communicate my needs???)
- Who did you become in the process? (I became a woman who...)
Will you show up for yourself and celebrate what you accomplished in 2016? It would be easy to say, "But I didn't do nearly as much as I said I would do this past year." or "But I am still carrying around the weight I said I would lose by now." or "But I haven't started the business I wanted to start by the end of the year." or "But I feel like crap and I don't have anything worthy of celebrating." or _______________ (you fill in the blank).
We actually could have gone down that path too. There is so much MORE we wanted to do and create in our business by now and yet if we had focused on what we haven't yet done, we would have missed the opportunity to Notice and Name all of the things we HAVE done and created. Our wish for you is that you step into your power and celebrate YOU and all you've done and created in this past year no matter what you have yet to do and create. Your Ta-Da List is what will fuel you to keep going.
And, as you go do this exercise, really consider HOW you want to feel going into 2017. If you want to feel more nourished and better cared for, make sure that you plan to join us for our 14-Day Winter Reset. Doors open on January 4th and we start on January 15th. We are hosting two informational webinars about the Reset on January 10th at noon EST and again at 8:30 p.m EST so plan to join us for one of those and in the meantime you can read all about the 14-Day Winter Reset HERE.