Celebration
We celebrate federal holidays in nine of the twelve calendar months each year. Three of those holidays are clustered together in what is generally viewed as “calendar” summer. Memorial Day begins calendar summer, Independence Day arguably is mid-calendar summer, and Labor Day typically marks the end of calendar summer. Although “meteorological” summer will continue on until mid-September each year. Maybe it's because of the time of the year or the significance of those days, but this cluster of summer holidays is marked with parades, festivals, barbecues and other types of group gatherings. As with all federal holidays, the nation ceases normal operations. Non-essential work is on hiatus. Except for emergency matters, federal courts are closed. Regular postal mail delivery is suspended, and most state governments follow suit with the government’s closure.
It is the very nature of breaking away from the routine operations of the country that marks the celebration as meaningful. Congress seems to have said these dates are so significant that normal business will cease. Many companies have followed suit to say that day and event in our history is so significant that normal operations will cease. As a society we have said that the significance of these days is to be celebrated.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines celebrate as: “to mark (something, such as an anniversary) by festivities or other deviation from routine.” What events, moments, achievements, or accomplishments in the professional domain of your life have you yet declare worthy of celebration? There's no time limit as to how far you can go back and there's no limit on the quantity of things you wish to celebrate. In fact, consider making a list starting with age eighteen of all of the things and successes you've had in your professional life but failed to celebrate personally. Don’t censor yourself. Don’t take too much time to decide whether this is significant or not. If it rises to your level of consciousness, it is significant, put it on the list.
So why the need for you to celebrate? Well, if you are still reading this far into the article, I dare say that you have some or many things on the to do list. Or in one way or another you are a leader of a few or of many. You may not be planning the next launch into space, but you are likely undertaking significant endeavors. And those endeavors will challenge you. They will push you to your limit. In fact, they may push you beyond your limit. They will have you considering whether or not you are just plain crazy. You might even consider giving up. Thinking: can I really do this? It is in those moments where you can reach back and draw upon your successes of the past, to confront the challenges of the present. It is in those moments where you can draw up the strength to realize: yes, I can do it again!
I'm challenging you to stay focused on the professional domain of your life and avoid taking the easy way out and listing something like celebrating your marriage, children, or parents. Those are all laudable, lovable, and legacy-minded. But they are safe and other focused. Instead, I want you to consider the hard work of focusing on something exclusively selfish to you in the workspace.
The workspace is a place where we often face obstacles to being our authentic selves and living a thriving life. The sum of whom we are perceived to be professionally is often captured on an annual evaluation, scaled one to five, where we might believe that we “are” the three or three point five that is given to everyone on their annual evaluation. With those same evaluations we will also believe as truth the developmental comments (opinions) of our immediate supervisor that encourages to address our weaknesses and offer other not so sage pieces of advice, rather than unapologetically affirming our strengths or encouraging us to take more risk.
Another reason to focus on celebrations related to the professional domain is the significant and outsized influence this domain has on the other aspects of our lives. We devote more than half of our waking hours to work related matters. Our title and identity (Hi my name is __________ and I'm a __________) are some of the first words spoken during business networking. Our professional domain is significantly attached to our ability to be financially secure based upon the compensation we receive. Which in turn touches upon so many other aspects of our lives (medical care, where we choose to live, educational outcomes for our children, etc.).
Our perceived value in the marketplace is directly tied to the compensation we receive from the work we do. Interestingly, our career domain is so impactful that long term unemployment is a life event that takes significant time to recover from. You can find out more about this landmark study in the book Well-Being: The Five Essential Elements, By Tom Rath and Jim Harper.
For those of you who are leaders, celebration (along with curiosity, empowerment, and emotional intelligence), will go a long way to building up members of your team. You might be stuck with a particular performance evaluation tool that is less than optimal, but that does not prevent you from recognizing and celebrating individual and team successes throughout the year. Remember, a mere “deviation from routine” is one manner of celebrating. Maybe at some point explicit recognition and celebration of individual and team accomplishments will become the “routine.”
So take a moment (or more), raise a glass (or more), and celebrate!
Reflection Questions:
What events, accomplishments, or achievements in your professional life might you want to celebrate?
What about these things are meaningful to you?
What manner can you go about celebrating these things?
Who, if anyone, might you consider inviting to share in your celebration?
For a moment imagine the celebration. What are you feeling? What emotions are you experiencing?