Celebrating Your Wins

Nikki

0:00
Laura, when was the last time you celebrated a win?

Laura

0:05
Oh, man. It’s been a few months. I think it was the moment I hit publish on my first Skillshare class. How about you?

Nikki

0:13
Sadly, I usually just say to myself, okay, that’s one less thing to worry about and move on to the next task or project that’s on my list and I don’t take the time to celebrate beyond a two second, Yay, me.

Laura

0:25
Hey, you need to have at least a 10 second happy dance.

Nikki

0:29
Oh, I don’t do happy dances, I do happy bourbon shots.

Laura

0:34
Of course you do.

Nikki

0:35
Of course I do.

Laura

0:37
Well, today, we’re going to deep dive into why we should celebrate our wins and the things that block us, and how we can add a little bit more celebration into our days.

Laura

0:51
Hi, this is Laura Lee Griffin.

Nikki

0:53
And this is Nikki May with the Startist Society, inspiring you to stop getting in your own way and start building an art biz and life that you love.

Laura

1:02
We are artists who believe strongly in the power of community, accountability, following your intuition, taking small actionable steps and breaking down the barriers of fear and procrastination that keep you stuck.

Nikki

1:17
Follow along with us on our creative business journey as we encourage you on yours.

Nikki

1:26
In general, our culture is not really very big on celebrating what we’ve accomplished, we tend to just gloss over it and feel like it really wasn’t enough.

Laura

1:36
Yeah, we’re frequently caught in the comparison trap, looking at what others are doing and either one thinking about what we haven’t done quite right in the past, or to thinking about what the next big hurdle or accomplishment we want to reach is. We actually don’t take that time to stop and congratulate ourselves for what we’ve already done.

Nikki

1:57
Yeah, and it doesn’t have to look like a big thing. It doesn’t have to be once I finish an entire collection of surface design patterns or a collection of paintings and sell all the pieces or reach 10,000 Instagram followers, then I’ll give myself a day at the spa or a fun trip or something like that.

Laura

2:16
We should be celebrating all of our little milestones and wins along the way. Things like signing up for an email newsletter provider, learning how to create an email template, sending our first newsletter, coming up with five ideas for your next freebie.

Nikki

2:32
Creating an idea list for your next class or workshop, or drawing five thumbnails for your next collection. Having the courage to hit send on a pitch email to an art director. Making five pieces of bad art.

Laura

2:47
Yay, you got them out of the way to learn and make room for something new.

Nikki

2:53
All right, so what can we do to help us with that?

Laura

2:59
Well, I think you can start by rewarding yourself with something that brings you joy after you’ve accomplished one of these small tasks, and it doesn’t have to be expensive or really time consuming. It could be something like a walk in the park on a pretty day.

Nikki

3:14
Or treating yourself to coffee with some friends. Or taking the time to sign up for a class that you’ve been interested in.

Laura

3:23
Yeah, or a piece of your favorite chocolate.

Nikki

3:25
Or 10.

Laura

3:29
By the way, Trader Joe’s makes these chocolate covered marshmallows that are divine. Just saying.

Nikki

3:35
Ugh, we have no Trader Joe’s here.

Laura

3:36
I feel for you.

Nikki

3:38
You should.

Laura

3:39
And it could be watching an episode of your favorite TV show after you’ve completed a specific task. Ted Lasso anyone? It’s awesome if you haven’t checked it out on Apple TV+? And what about taking time to garden outside? Or buying a tube of your favorite paint.

Nikki

3:56
Or your favorite pen.

Laura

3:57
Experimenting with a new procreate brush collection, like Lisa Glanz’, which are awesome.

Nikki

4:04
Or you could create an accountability group that spends time sharing your wins with each other every week and celebrating your small accomplishments. And if you don’t have one, join our Facebook group.

Laura

4:15
Yeah. Another idea is starting a gratitude journal and writing down five things every day that you’re really grateful for, including, you know, those things that were wins for you that day.

Nikki

4:27
And share those wins on social media with the people who are following your journey. They want to celebrate with you.

Laura

4:33
Yeah, sometimes we think we’re annoying people, but people who are following you actually want to share in that excitement and that joy and the things that you’ve accomplished,

Nikki

4:41
They totally cheer you on.

Laura

4:42
But to be able to celebrate those wins, we first have to create… we have to create a new mindset.

Nikki

4:48
Absolutely. You can start by comparing yourself against yourself and not against others that might be years ahead of you.

Laura

4:57
Yeah, and saying thank you when people compliment you instead of deflecting, I have a really bad tendency to say, Oh, that’s so nice of you to say, but… and then fill in the blank with why I’m not really as good as they think I am, instead of just saying thank you.

Nikki

5:12
Yeah, stop doing that, Laura. And surround yourself with people who support what you’re working on and add boundaries in your life against negative energy.

Laura

5:22
And this reminds me of the book that I just finished called Soundtracks by Jon Acuff, it’s all about how to replace negative soundtracks playing in your head with positive ones, and how it can make a huge difference in your day. There have been sociology studies on the actual scientific effects of this. As human beings, we really look for evidence to support those soundtracks that are playing in our minds.

Nikki

5:46
I’m actually reading this book too, right now. And it totally reminds me of a more business focused version of the book and movie, What the Bleep Do We Know?

Laura

5:56
Yeah, does remind me of that. And that was a that was an interesting movie… sort of the idea of law of attraction. But in the book, for example, Jon Acuff tells himself each day, things are always going my way. And if your soundtrack says, I always have bad luck, you’re gonna start attracting that and seeing that everywhere you go. But if you begin saying things are always going my way, magically, the princess parking spot is going to show up when all the spots are taken, or you’ll see opportunities to show your artwork in new places, you’ll start a conversation with someone that could end up with your work being sold or shown in a new way, you’ll reach out to more companies to get your artwork licensed. Because you’re open to good things showing up. Your brain will literally start creating new neurological pathways to support that. It’s pretty fascinating.

Nikki

6:48
Right? And in addition, your brain chemistry actually changes with different kinds of thoughts. Celebrating fires up the feel good chemicals, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and it lowers the stress hormone cortisol, that negative thoughts set in motion.

Laura

7:07
Okay, so let’s take some of the negative soundtracks we should remove from our vocabulary and use Jon Acuff’s strategy of flipping the soundtrack and saying the opposite. For example, I’m too old, or starting too late to achieve success in my art career, that turns into, I’m just getting started, but it’s never too late. I’m taking small steps in the direction that I want to go.

Nikki

7:29
Or take the thought I’ll never be able to support myself with my art and turn that into Wow, just by sharing a photo of myself wearing the leggings with my art on them, I’ve sold seven pairs in two days. Imagine what could happen if I keep promoting them with a plan and consistency.

Laura

7:47
Now wait, Nikki, How much more powerful would that statement be? If you removed the words could and if?

Nikki

7:53
You’re absolutely right. Imagine what will happen when I keep promoting them with a consistent plan.

Laura

7:59
Exactly.

Nikki

8:00
Much better, much better.

Laura

8:02
Language is important.

Nikki

8:03
It really is.

Laura

8:04
Now another one could be I’ll never have as many Instagram followers as insert famous artist here. And that turns into Wow, my consistent posting on Instagram has grown my following by 200 people in the last year. I’m well on my way.

Nikki

8:20
Okay, Laura, share a recent win with me and tell me what, what did you do to celebrate?

Laura

8:27
Well, I haven’t mentioned this before, but in the last few weeks, I’ve taken on a new day job. So for me, I’m celebrating two things. One, how I’ve actually filled another six pages in my sketchbook this week with guache floral paintings, even though my time is more limited, which is a celebration in and of itself.

Nikki

8:46
Definitely.

Laura

8:47
And number two, in a past episode, I committed to reaching out to a greeting card company with my work, which I actually did. And they’ve added me to their design brief newsletter for their artists, which is awesome. So yesterday, I celebrated both of these by having my first mani/pedi in two years.

Nikki

9:06
And your nails look fabulous.

Laura

9:08
They are fabulous. So how about you, Nikki? What small or big win can you celebrate?

Nikki

9:15
Well, just yesterday, I was having brunch at a super cute new place in town that is, it’s a cafe and a bar that has a really cute little shop attached to it. And I spoke to the owner about carrying my art and products there and she’s totally into it. So I celebrated, of course, by having one of their boozy popsicles. I mean, who wouldn’t enjoy peach bellini popsicle.

Laura

9:44
Oh my god, that sounds amazing.

Nikki

9:45
It was delicious.

Laura

9:48
Yum. Sign me up.

Nikki

9:50
All right, I’ll sign you up. Just get your butt to Paducah.

Laura

9:54
Okay. Okay, we’ll work on that.

Nikki

9:56
What are our key takeaways from this conversation?

Laura

9:58
Well, I think the key takeaway is to stop comparing yourself to others and begin celebrating your own wins along the way. We all have to start somewhere and taking one step after another will ultimately get you miles down the road.

Nikki

10:14
And taking the time to celebrate your smaller wins gives you more motivation to keep going for the big ones.

Laura

10:20
Absolutely. Now it’s your turn. Big or small, share your latest wins with us in the Startist Society Facebook group and let us cheer you on.

Nikki

10:31
For today’s Startist Society show notes go to startistsociety.com/wins.

Laura

10:36
If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, we’d love for you to leave us a five star rating and review reviews help us reach more Startist like you and keep us inspired to continue creating new episodes.

Nikki

10:47
Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next week.

Nikki

10:50
Laura we totally just planned and recorded two short episodes in an hour and a half.

Laura

10:59
That’s awesome. Let’s celebrate.

Nikki

11:01
How are we gonna celebrate my shot glass is empty.

Laura

11:04
You might have to fill it back up.