Celebrating Small Wins: Brené Brown on Joy
Last week I was feeling a bit bleak with the Delta Funk. But as a die-hard optimist, I knew what I had to do: get the endorphins going with a good walk. I love attempting to get in at least 10,000 steps a day – rain or shine.
While I’m walking, I listen to podcasts. I subscribe to a bunch (a highly technical term): Holy Post, Pop Culture Happy Hour, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, Ear Hustle, Code Switch. Yesterday, I was listening to another of my favorites, How I Built This.
Brené Brown was Guy Raz’s guest. She’s best known for her research on vulnerability. In fact, her TED Talk on The Power of Vulnerability is one of the top ten most-watched TED Talks of all time (54 million and counting).
While most of Brown’s conversation with Raz centered on vulnerability, what she had to say about joy really caught my attention:
[T]he folks who can lean fully into joy have one thing in common. My hypothesis was spirituality, but I was wrong. It was actually gratitude…
I see this all the time and leaders I work with, they refuse to celebrate small moments and small achievements out of the fear that if they do that, people will take their foot off the gas. If we stop and celebrate, and we're grateful at this moment, people will slow down.
Well, we don't have a shred of evidence. We have zero data that show when we recognize people, when we're grateful, when we celebrate a moment that people stop working hard. In fact, all the data say the opposite.
The data say that when we slow down, show gratitude, celebrate small moments it actually prevents burnout and people redoubled their commitment to work.
In this time of crisis, what are you doing to “celebrate small moments and small achievements”?
Your staff, your congregation, your people need to know that all is not lost. Those small wins are worth celebrating. Worth a “way to go.” Worth smiling about. Worth sharing.
Gratitude, as you know, is a practice. For some it comes easier than others. As Brown suggests, lean into gratitude and joy will surely follow.
Maybe, even today, give someone a covid-safe High Five (see #3) and see how they respond. It’ll make their day, and undoubtedly, it’ll make yours too. Celebrate the small wins.
Whoop, whoop!
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Upcoming workshop:
Endowments: What You Need to Know
September 28 and November 2; 6-8pm (Two workshops, two different topics!)
Endowments aren’t just for universities and hospitals. They can be a great way to maintain church buildings and fund ministries. However, endowments don’t merely appear out of thin air. They take work, time, and an understanding of how to manage them.
Wondering how best to steward an endowment that already exists? Don’t know if you should pursue establishing an endowment? Want to know more? These workshops are the ticket! Sign-up here. Zoom information will be sent two days before the event.
For more information, click here.
Sponsored by the Greater Northwest Area of the UMC.
Cesie Delve Scheuermann (pronounced “CC Delv Sherman,” yes, really) is a consultant in stewardship, development, and grant writing. For nearly 25 years, while working as a volunteer and part-time consultant, she helped raise over three million dollars for numerous non-profit organizations. She wants you to get psyched up about joy by watching this version of “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart.” You can reach Cesie at inspiringgenerosity@gmail.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/inspiringgenerosity or at CesieScheuermann.com.
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