This past week I graduated from East West College of Natural Medicine with a Masters in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. It’s been 3 1/2 years of non stop stress, long hours, and little sleep. I sacrificed my time, money, relationships, and even my health to get  through this program. But in the end, it was all worth it.

I can honestly say that going back to school to pursue this degree was one of the best decisions I ever made. And amongst all the hard work I also made a lot of wonderful memories. That is all thanks to my fellow classmates who kept me laughing all day long. Our class was a group of smart, ambitious, dedicated students, but we also knew how to live it up and have a good time. There was definitely never a dull moment in our class. We demanded the best of ourselves and of our school, and graduation would be no exception. Which is why we decided to graduate at the Ritz. Perhaps a little over the top for a group of 9 acupuncture students, but that’s how we roll.

So yes we had our graduation at the Ritz and it was quite the celebration. Fancy invitations, elegant attire, cocktails on the terrace, professional photography, and much more. Needless to say we spared no expense. A great time was had by all, it truly was a grand celebration.

But to be honest about a year ago when we started planning our graduation I had zero interest. Graduation was just not a big deal to me. I had never gone to my undergrad ceremony and I didn’t see the reasoning in making this one a big deal. The truth is I didn’t see completing a degree as that big of an accomplishment. My thought was big deal I finished school,  I’ll celebrate when I actually have a successful acupuncture practice. To me a diploma was just a piece of paper and the real accomplishment comes after I start seeing patients and earning a good income. So I didn’t see finishing school as something to celebrate. School was just one step, one piece of the puzzle, just something to check off my to-do list.

I knew that my class was not happy with my lack luster attitude, but I thought they were making this whole graduation thing out to be a much bigger deal then it was. At that time I had been discussing this with my best friend over the phone, bitching about how everyone was being ridiculous about graduation, when she totally called me out. She stopped me in the middle of my rant and said “Lauren, you never stop to celebrate anything in your life. You just move from one accomplishment to another without taking the time to celebrate your success.” She was right. Whenever I achieve something or reach some sort of goal I never take the time to celebrate. I just immediately move on to the next goal or project. I really took what she had to say to heart and thought back on my life on all the little celebrations I had missed out on because I didn’t think they worth celebrating. I decided that from there on out I would start celebrating more, and I did.

I celebrated my 30th birthday in NYC. I celebrated at the end of every semester. I celebrated when I launched this blog and website. And I most definitely celebrated after every Board exam I passed.

I began to realize how important celebrating your success is. Moving from one task to the next without stopping to appreciate your progress along the way makes for a kinda dull and frankly sad way of life. The achiever part of me says that I’m never done, that there is always something more to do, another goal to take on, etc… Always looking ahead at how much more work I have to do rather then celebrate where I’ve just been and what I’ve just done. But when I stopped to celebrate along the way I began to  really see how far I came and what I had accomplished. Recognizing my success gave me more confidence and encouraged me to keep moving forward. It also made every task easier to complete because I knew that there was a reward at the end. Plus I had a lot more fun!

So my challenge to you this week is to look at your life and see where you could use some celebration. Is there a goal or project that you’ve take on that deserves some recognition? Maybe it’s a new diet or workout routine that you have been dedicated too. Find where in your life that you have really been putting in the work and find a way to celebrate your efforts. When you have a bigger or long term goal break it down into steps and make sure to celebrate the little success along the way. And a celebration doesn’t have to be a grand party. It could be a nice dinner out with your loved ones, those pair of shoes that you’ve been eyeing, or even just taking a day completely off and hanging out in your pajamas. Whatever celebration means to you, do it more often.