How to Celebrate March Fourth

Planning For the Future

Take a step back and reassess your major life goals. March Fourth is a great time to think about the big dreams you have in life—the things you want to “march forth” and accomplish. Set aside some quiet time to sit and think about what you want your life to look like in a couple months, and in a couple years. What big picture goals do you want to accomplish? Your big-picture goals could be anything you want. Think about broad dreams or ambitions you have, like moving to a new home, making a career shift, improving a relationship, or getting serious about your health. Write down your big-picture goals in clear, focused language, like, “This year, I want to create my own blog” or “I want to move out by this time next year.”

Break those ambitious goals into smaller, achievable stepping stones. Going after lofty big-picture goals by themselves can be overwhelming, and might scare you away from even starting. Instead, break down your big ambitions into smaller, less intimidating goals. Make these goals very specific, and set a deadline for each one. For example, if your big goal is to run a marathon at the end of the year, step 1 could be as small as finding a training plan. Step 2 could be to start by running just 15 minutes a day for 3 days a week, and step 3 could be to increase by 5 minutes after the first 2 weeks. Each time you complete a smaller goal, you’ll have a double sense of accomplishment: you’ll hit a milestone and move yourself closer to your big dream.

Figure out how to track your performance. Tracking your progress helps you stay motivated and on track to hit your deadlines. Finding a way to do this can be more difficult for some goals than others, but the main objective is to be able to watch your progress as it happens, be proud of yourself for staying on top of things, and know when it’s time to work a little harder. For example, if your goal is to write a novel, you can track your progress by tracking your daily word count. If you realize that your productivity is going down, you’ll be able to pinpoint when that started happening, what caused it, and how to fix it. Write down exactly how you intend to monitor your progress and hold yourself to that. Part of achieving your goal is keeping yourself focused and on track to hit every deadline.

Remind yourself why these goals are important to you. If you’re serious about achieving your goals, you probably have serious reasons for doing so. Clarify those reasons, write them down, and let them fuel you. When your motivation starts to lag, dipping into this sense of purpose and desire will help renew your drive. For example, if your goal is to find a new job, your driving motivation might be to do something you’re passionate about, earn more money, or take on more responsibility.

Stay motivated by telling friends and family and planning rewards. You’re still in the planning stages of making your goals, but you can use your March Fourth motivation to plan for times when you might not be feeling so driven. For each step of your goal, set a small reward for yourself to include positive motivation. You can also use peer pressure to keep yourself on track. Tell friends and family what you’re doing and ask them to support you by checking in to see how your goal is coming along.

Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

Challenge yourself to do 1-2 small things that you wouldn’t normally do. You’ll be amazed at what you can do when you train yourself to be OK with discomfort, and March Fourth is the perfect day to start! Today, do 1-2 small activities that you’d normally feel uncomfortable doing. Then, challenge yourself to do the same thing the next day, and the next. For example, if you’re shy, try saying having a short conversation with everyone you see today at work or school. Try a new kind of food for lunch, or contributing a comment during class or a meeting. Even though these are just small actions, they’ll help you get used to being uncomfortable. Soon, you’ll feel less afraid to try bigger things that test your limits, like asking for a raise or trying something physically challenging, like skydiving.

Visualize yourself succeeding and feeling great. It’s normal to feel nervous when you’re stepping outside of your comfort zone. To calm yourself, take a few deep breaths and picture a positive outcome that could come from challenging yourself like this. Imagine how good you’ll feel and allow that positivity to fill you up, giving you the confidence to go for it. Try repeating an empowering phrase to yourself, like “I can do this,” “I’m safe,” or “I’ll be fine no matter what.”

Focus on what you’ll learn from this experience, instead of the discomfort. You’re not stepping outside of your comfort zone just to torture yourself—you’re doing it to learn and grow. When you start to feel awkward, nervous, or uncomfortable, just remember your end goal. You’re working to become brave and confident in yourself, and that will be more than worth a few moments of discomfort. For example, you could step out of your comfort zone by having a difficult conversation face-to-face, instead of via phone or texting. Focus on how this is making you a better, more empathetic person, and how you’re learning to deal with other people’s negative feelings.

Imagine an alter ego of yourself if you’re still feeling nervous. If you still can’t quite get over the hump and out of your comfort zone, imagine an alternate version of yourself who is confident in this situation. Embody that part of your personality and inhabit it, pretending that you’re totally at ease and comfortable. It might still feel strange at first, but over time you’ll get more comfortable, and soon you won’t even need that alter ego. This strategy is similar to the phrase “Fake it till you make it.” If you’re still scared at stepping out of your comfort zone, pretend that you’re not and do it anyways. Keep doing this, and you’ll eventually realize that you’re not faking it at all—that you really are that brave and confident.

Remind yourself of the benefits of leaving your comfort zone. People often say that the best things in your life lay right outside your comfort zone. To get to a place you’ve never been, you have to do something that you’ve never done before, and chances are that’ll feel uncomfortable. Be OK with discomfort and challenge yourself to embrace the fear. See what you’re really capable of and how far you can go when you don’t hold yourself back. Remember that no matter what the outcome is, taking a risk will help you grow. Mistakes become experiences you can reflect upon and learn from in the future.

Celebrating Your Accomplishments This Year

Set aside time to celebrate in whatever way you want. March Fourth isn’t just about challenging yourself and setting new goals—it’s also about appreciating yourself for the things you’ve already accomplished. Give yourself some time at the end of the day to celebrate what you’ve done this year, in whatever way feels most special to you. Rewarding yourself like this will refresh your energy and motivate you to seek new challenges. If you don’t think you have anything to celebrate, look again. It could be something as small as cooking a new meal last week or doing something you’d been putting off. Everyone has something exciting waiting to be appreciated. You could throw a party with friends, treat yourself to a nice dinner, or simply spend time relaxing with a book or your favorite show. Do whatever makes you feel the most appreciated.

Acknowledge and thank anyone who helped you along the way. Chances are you wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what you did without some help along the way. Invite over the people who helped you for a joint celebration, give them a call to thank them, or simply send a heartfelt text. Let them know that you appreciate their help and couldn’t have done it without them.

Share your accomplishments with your friends and family. Sharing what you’ve done with the people you love can make you feel even more appreciated, and might even inspire them to go after their own goals. Don’t brag—simply share your accomplishment in a positive, excited way and let their pride in your lift you up even more. For example, you could say something like, “Remember how I was trying to design that website for the business? Well, I finally finished it! Wanna take a look? I think it turned out really well.”

Reflect on what you’ve done and learned. You can take something away from everything you’ve tried, achieved, or even failed at. Ask yourself what you’ve learned about yourself from this accomplishment, no matter how small it might be. How do you feel now that you’re done? How can you use what you’ve learned moving forward? For example, if you’re celebrating going to the gym for the first time in a while, think about what it was that finally motivated you to go and how you felt when you were there and afterwards. You can use the same motivational tactics to get you to the gym the next time, and build off of your experiences to feel more confident there.

Re-energize yourself and get ready to take on your next goal. Perhaps the most important part of celebrating a goal is to motivate you to go after the next one! Giving yourself time to relax and feel proud serves as a much-needed break, while reminding you that there’s a reward waiting at the end of each milestone.