Why celebrating wins is the ultimate productivity hack

The fabulous Dr Michelle Shields recently ran a peer coaching mini-masterclass for Powrsuit members. You might know coaching as a tool for overcoming challenges and finding a better path forward. While that’s important, she focused on another key benefit: recognising (and celebrating) what’s going well. 

After pairing up to turn theory into peer-coaching practice, participants shared their feedback. One highlighted her peer’s recent professional win—securing a key conference speaker. It occurred to us that this was the first time her peer had celebrated. 

Stopping to smell the roses

This, friends, is Powrsuit’s 100th article. Almost two years ago, our first one was our first experiment – the seed from which our (now 600 member strong!) global career accelerator has grown. 

We almost missed this incredible milestone because, quite frankly, life is busy. We’re juggling a million balls (hello Singapore!), and when ruthlessly prioritising our time, it’s easy to overlook our real rocks. 

It’s also a mistake.

We all know the powr of positivity; the critical role thoughts play in our success. But what about the importance of recognising the successes themselves?

Success breeds success

Researchers have uncovered the magic ratio for feedback. The highest-performing teams receive 5.6 pieces of positive feedback for every negative one. They probably didn’t even need to science this one – we all know how good it feels to get a genuine pat on the back.

Positive feedback loops are a beautiful thing. Recognising success activates the brain’s reward system (woop, dopamine hit!). That sense of accomplishment boosts self-esteem and motivation—when we know our hard work is appreciated, we work harder.

Put simply, success really does breed success.

The opposite is also true. If we fast-forward through successes, we trap ourselves in a cycle of stress. That’s no joke; insufficient reward is one of the leading contributors to burnout. And with this chronic problem on the rise, we should really get on to addressing it. 

Small wins matter

We’re not just talking about big successes; small wins are equally important. 

That’s why we celebrate weekly wins on Instagram every Friday and have a Success channel in the Powrsuit network. It’s not about showing off; it’s about implementing a practice of celebration—a practice that we know boosts productivity.

At Powrsuit, celebrating success can be as simple as going heavy on emojis (🙌👏💃💥🔥🥂), or as ceremonial as morning mimosas. We’ll celebrate anything that takes us a step closer to our goals – even if it’s just a tiptoe forward. A new partner, great feedback, a well-received event, record week of podcast downloads, or a reply to this newsletter… If it’s a win, we try to recognise it.

This practice is incredibly important because bootstrapping a startup is hard. You set massive, audacious goals, and the gap between where you are and where you want to be often feels like a gaping void. We know that one of the biggest differentiators between founders is resilience – the ability to keep going, even when times get tough.

Celebration is a powrful tool to keep motivated and moving forward, and it really works. 

A productivity hack

Self-leadership means controlling what you can. If you operate in an environment that’s light on celebration, be the change you want to see. 

This week, stop to recognise a small win – and we don’t mean your own. Pay attention to what’s happening around you. Identify other people’s achievements – big or small – and make a point of marking them. After you acknowledge it in the moment, follow up with a genuine congratulatory message – remember to keep it timely and specific.