‘Tis the season…to celebrate your success

A time to think

We don’t need to tell you why reflection is important; it’s your chance to take stock of the lessons you’ve learned over the past year. Hopefully you work for a company that sets up a comprehensive and helpful review of your accomplishments around this time. But if you end your year with just a review, without a celebration, then you’re missing out on collecting some well-deserved happy points and all-important confidence boosters. Unfortunately, too many people are doing just that. They don’t seem to realize that taking a moment to acknowledge whatever successes they have had can buoy future success as well.

Above all else….celebrate! 

Celebration makes you happier, and we don’t just mean for the few hours that the (personal) party lasts. Studies show that focusing on our positive experiences keeps us in better spirits overall. Unfortunately, we usually do the opposite: we love to wallow in the negative. For example, even after a great performance review, for many of us it’s the small criticisms that keep ringing in our heads. It’s impossible to have an honestly perfect review, and it’s good to have areas in which you still need to challenge yourself, where you can still learn and develop. The problem is that we focus too much on where we need to improve without first basking in the positive feedback we’re receiving for a moment.

Also don’t think an office party counts as a celebration of your accomplishments! That’s a celebration of company accomplishments —this is also important, but we’re asking you to take a moment here to really pat yourself on the back for your personal victories. Think of it as a mental exercise in happiness that will get your ready to rumble in the year ahead.

It can be as simple as just spending a few moments thinking about a major obstacle that you overcame or a new skill you learned. Another option is write a list of all the cool things you did this year in your career and on the job. For those of us in the volatile life-sciences or clinical-research industry, this shouldn’t be too hard. Our industry is full of challenges and surprises. Perhaps you successfully created a clinical operations program for your company’s new investigatory product? Perhaps as a business developer you were able to get an innovative new sponsor to work with your CRO. You’ll be amazed how much you’ve accomplished in a year once you see it in list form. Plus, you can keep that list to pull out and peruse whenever you need a quick pep talk or pick-me-up.

What Seuss is celebrating

Seuss is definitely celebrating! We’re celebrating as a team, of course, but we also asked some of our Seuss staffers to share the personal professional victories they’re congratulating themselves on this year. Maybe our list of accomplishments will inspire you!

Pauline Thijssen, Junior Recruiter: “My biggest accomplishment this year has been working on one of my biggest weaknesses: my dread of databases and all things IT. Both my internship at IFAD and my job here at Seuss forced me to step it up in this area, pushing me to learn more about this area, pick up new skills and stop dreading it. I can honestly say that my IT skills have improved significantly and that, because of this, I am working in a more structured manner. I take pride in that, but I’m not done developing in this area either!”

Sabine Hutchison, co-founder & Managing Director: “I am proud of the HBA summit I organized. It allowed me to work as a volunteer and learn event planning. When starting this adventure, my goal was to have attendees leave inspired, and those are the words people used about the speakers and event. That makes me super proud.”

Jessica Kundapur, Account Manager: “I am going to celebrate the fact that I took charge of my career path. I really had to be honest (brutally, in fact!) about what my skills and passions were. I had to really discover my sweet spot, finding the mix of responsibilities and tasks that I truly loved, and tailor-make a position for myself—working with my managers, of course! I am really proud that I prioritized what makes me happy in my career, because now I wake up every day excited and energized to go to work and do my job.”

Your turn

You’ve probably started reflecting on your year while reading this post, haven’t you? Hard not to once other people lead the way. Use that moment to create that list of things to not only reflect upon but especially to celebrate—and then treat yourself to something that feels sufficiently celebratory! (We recommend raising a glass of chilled Cava.) Celebrate your success out loud and you’ll also encourage others to do the same, leading to a more positive atmosphere around you and fresh energy for all heading into the New Year.