Celebrating the small things can help keep your kid motivated, it gives them a sense of accomplishment and helps cultivate gratitude. Motivation can help kids keep moving forward towards bigger goals!
The idea of small wins adding up to bigger ones is a theory called the Progress Principle, discovered at the Harvard Business School. By boosting our positive emotions, we motivate ourselves and others to move forward, continuing to make progress.
When we consider this, it makes sense to celebrate any win, so start to celebrate the small things! Here are some ways to help your kid do this:
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- Identify the win! Let your kid tell you what they consider to be a win.
- Celebrate the hard effort put into doing work, not just the outcome.
- Practice gratitude for small wins. Gratitude energizes us!
- Don’t beat yourself up, negative self-talk drains energy instead of boosting it.
- Be realistic about setting goals.
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When we celebrate small things, we often shift our perspective in a positive way, because regular day-to-day life can become routine, and this mixes it up!
Cultivating a foundation of gratitude with your kid can be as simple as celebrating the small things others may take for granted.
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- Spend a few extra minutes at bedtime to talk about the daily little victories, naming 3 things you are each grateful for that happened that day.
- Compliment each other, share things you noticed about each other that they did well that day, like sharing, or getting along with a sibling!
- Give an intentional high-five when homework is done for the day.
- Put a note in your kid’s lunch box to bring them a smile.
- Sing along together on car rides and share why music is enjoyable.
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With a simple shift in mindset, you can start to see all the wonderful small things worth celebrating in your lives!
