Celebrating Success

Something big happened for me this past weekend... If you're based in the Netherlands, then you may have seen me on the cover of FD Persoonlijk, the magazine that's part of Het Financieele Dagblad. I've been selected as one of the 50 most promising young talents of 2022. The list of talents includes a wide range of entrepreneurs, young professionals, artists and creatives, all under the age of 35. It's an immense honour for me to be featured in this way (and to be able to rock my favorite outfit on the cover!)

I've been selected thanks to my innovative work around turning data into music. As part of my research at the University of Cambridge into the impact of Covid-19 on higher education, I wrote poems with quotes taken from the interviews I conducted with Cambridge students and academics. I then turned those poems into music tracks, which I released as a 'data music' album, titled 'Please Hold' (look it up on Spotify!). Check out the full list of talents and profiles here (in Dutch).

Taking time to pause

This weekend was a great opportunity for me to practice what I teach to many of my coachees: to take time to celebrate success.

Do you recognise this? You accomplish something big, something you've been working towards for a long time, something that seemed like a huge deal before getting there. But then you reach that major milestone, and 2 seconds later, you catch yourself thinking:

"Ok great. Now, what's next?"

This is exactly what happened to me this Saturday. When I saw myself on the cover, featured as one of the 50 talents of 2022, I thought: "That's so cool!" And right after, I caught myself with those oh-so-familiar thoughts:

"What's going to be my next step? What will be my next stage, next platform, next goal, my 'next big thing'?"

There's always even higher peaks that appear whenever you reach a new height. There never seems to be a point of arrival. And you know what? That's great because, as cliché as it sounds, a lot of joy, purpose and happiness in life has to do with the journey rather than the destination. It's a good thing to want to level up, to have ambitions, to keep striving, to want to continue the journey and aim to reach even further.

But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't take a break every so often, to pause your climb, put your backpack down, take a deep breathe in and look around to enjoy the view. To take a moment to be here and now, and to celebrate how far you've already come.

So this weekend, I asked myself: how can I make this moment unforgettable? How can I truly celebrate this milestone and acknowledge my success?

Enjoying the view

I love symbolism and I also love to go on hikes, especially in this beautiful country of Croatia where I currently live. So I decided to celebrate by literally climbing a mountain (lucky me, I have a mountain range right outside of my house!). And when I reached the top, after climbing for several hours to get to 1500 meters above sea level, I sat down. I took my time as I admired the view and acknowledged myself for this major accomplishment.

So now, here's my invitation to you: what is something you'd like to acknowledge yourself for? Right here and right now, which achievement or success can you celebrate?

Give yourself the credit you deserve, and enjoy the view!

Like this post if you can relate, and tell me below in the comments: do you take time out to acknowledge your own accomplishments? What is your favorite way to celebrate success?