How to Harness the Power of Tiny Celebrations

Your brain wants to protect you, always. 

Its core function is to keep you safe and alive. 

There’s a part of your brain, the reptilian part, that really really really wants to keep you safe and do you know the biggest way it tries to keep you safe? By preventing change, because it thinks change is dangerous. 

Back when humans lived in caves, moving to the next cave could mean sharing it with a saber tooth tiger that would kill and eat you. 

Your reptilian brain thinks change is life threatening and it has all kinds of tricks up its sleeve to keep you in your safe and predictable life. 

What happens if you push past your fears and allow change into your life? 

Magic, that’s what happens, pure amazing magic.

I feared change all my life. 

I held onto objects, papers, and things I no longer wanted or needed because they just might come in handy. They might be useful. 

I know this belief of hanging onto things for their potential usefulness comes from my grandparents. They were young children during the great depression and they were fully grown adults during World War II, that meant they learned how to make do with what they had. They saved the leftover fat from their meat to use when cooking something new and they held onto anything that might be potentially useful because they really did not know when they might have something like it again. 

Now in the age of the internet and fast fashion, so many things are not made to last, and it’s easy to get exactly what you want when you want it. 

The question is how do I move past my reptilian brain that thinks change is dangerous so that I can let go of all of these held-on-to-things that I no longer need?

Sometimes an answer can be a simple thing. 

One of the simplest ways to make a change is rewarding your brain with tiny celebrations when you do something you want to repeat. 

For example, each time I shred or recycle mail that I don't need, I shout “Yes!” and pump my arm. That feels good to me. Every time I do that I wire into my brain that it gets rewarding with good endorphins each time I recycle or shred something. So my brain believes that recycling and shredding paper is a good thing.

You can add tiny celebrations to anything. 

Keep them simple and choose ones that feel genuine for you. If you choose a celebration where you feel stupid doing it, don't do that celebration. Forcing yourself to do one that feels icky, fake, or stupid is only going to make you feel stupid. That's not the point, instead you want to feel genuinely good, excited even. 

So what might a tiny celebration look like?

• A victory lap around your living room

• Shouting “Yes!” with an arm pump

• High-fiving yourself in the mirror

• Doing a happy dance

• Turning on your favorite song and singing along (dancing welcome here too)

• Jumping up and down

• Hugging someone you care about

There are so many ways to celebrate. There's at least one that will feel good for you. I'm a big fan of shouting “yes!” and doing happy dances. Those are the ones that feel best to me.

Which tiny celebration(s) feel good to you?

​I made a fun reel on Instagram with me doing mini celebrations, watch it here​ 

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