Hey friends,
This week, I wanted to share something a bit closer to home.
For those of you who know, I’m in my second year of my psychotherapy training with The Psychosynthesis Trust. And this week felt like a pretty big milestone. I completed my second-year essay.
Now, I spend a lot of my time researching, building content, and creating sessions. But essay writing? Very different beast. This one took a huge amount of mental, physical and emotional energy.
I took time off this week, and again back in February, to really focus on it. Which, as you can imagine, isn’t always the easiest thing when you’re running a business and delivering work. But I was committed to doing it differently this year. Less last-minute stress, more intention. Groundbreaking, I know.
And I actually did it. It’s done. I’ll probably tweak it before submission, but it’s done ahead of time.
So this week I’ve been thinking about celebrating wins.
Not just the big, shiny ones. The ones that require effort, discipline, and a bit of grit behind the scenes. Especially with how rubbish things can also feel in the world right now, these moments matter.
And something I see a lot, in myself included, is how quickly we move on. Finish the thing, tick the box, onto the next.
So here are a few ways to actually pause and mark those moments, especially when it comes to work or learning:
1. Close the loop properly
Your brain doesn’t automatically register “done” as success. It just files it under “task completed” and moves on.
Take two minutes to ask yourself: what did this take from me, and what did I do well?
There’s a reason this shows up in habit research like Atomic Habits. When you acknowledge effort, you reinforce identity, not just output.
2. Say it out loud to someone safe
Not performatively, not for likes. Just one person who understands the context.
Research from Martin Seligman shows that sharing positive moments helps them land more deeply and last longer.
In real terms, it stops everything feeling like it disappears into the void.
3. Create a clear “that’s done” moment
Most of us finish something and immediately open the next tab, the next email, the next task.
Instead, build in a small pause. Close your laptop. Go outside. Make a coffee and actually sit down with it.
It sounds simple, but psychologically it matters. Without that pause, your nervous system never really registers completion, which is why everything can feel a bit relentless.
4. Let it be enough, even briefly
Before you edit it, improve it, or move the goalpost. Just let it be done.
There’s a concept called the “arrival fallacy,” often spoken about by Tal Ben-Shahar, where we think the next milestone will finally make us feel satisfied.
But if we don’t practise that feeling now, we don’t suddenly gain access to it later.
The point is, don’t rush past it.
Because these moments, the effort, the discipline, the showing up when it’s hard, that’s the work. That’s the bit worth recognising.
And I know how easy it is, especially for those of us wired to keep going, to skip that part.
So, if there’s something you’ve completed, big or small, take a moment and let it land.
Cate x
Hey friends,
This week, I wanted to share something a bit closer to home.
For those of you who know, I’m in my second year of my psychotherapy training with The Psychosynthesis Trust. And this week felt like a pretty big milestone. I completed my second-year essay.
Now, I spend a lot of my time researching, building content, and creating sessions. But essay writing? Very different beast. This one took a huge amount of mental, physical and emotional energy.
I took time off this week, and again back in February, to really focus on it. Which, as you can imagine, isn’t always the easiest thing when you’re running a business and delivering work. But I was committed to doing it differently this year. Less last-minute stress, more intention. Groundbreaking, I know.
And I actually did it. It’s done. I’ll probably tweak it before submission, but it’s done ahead of time.
So this week I’ve been thinking about celebrating wins.
Not just the big, shiny ones. The ones that require effort, discipline, and a bit of grit behind the scenes. Especially with how rubbish things can also feel in the world right now, these moments matter.
And something I see a lot, in myself included, is how quickly we move on. Finish the thing, tick the box, onto the next.
So here are a few ways to actually pause and mark those moments, especially when it comes to work or learning:
1. Close the loop properly
Your brain doesn’t automatically register “done” as success. It just files it under “task completed” and moves on.
Take two minutes to ask yourself: what did this take from me, and what did I do well?
There’s a reason this shows up in habit research like Atomic Habits. When you acknowledge effort, you reinforce identity, not just output.
2. Say it out loud to someone safe
Not performatively, not for likes. Just one person who understands the context.
Research from Martin Seligman shows that sharing positive moments helps them land more deeply and last longer.
In real terms, it stops everything feeling like it disappears into the void.
3. Create a clear “that’s done” moment
Most of us finish something and immediately open the next tab, the next email, the next task.
Instead, build in a small pause. Close your laptop. Go outside. Make a coffee and actually sit down with it.
It sounds simple, but psychologically it matters. Without that pause, your nervous system never really registers completion, which is why everything can feel a bit relentless.
4. Let it be enough, even briefly
Before you edit it, improve it, or move the goalpost. Just let it be done.
There’s a concept called the “arrival fallacy,” often spoken about by Tal Ben-Shahar, where we think the next milestone will finally make us feel satisfied.
But if we don’t practise that feeling now, we don’t suddenly gain access to it later.
The point is, don’t rush past it.
Because these moments, the effort, the discipline, the showing up when it’s hard, that’s the work. That’s the bit worth recognising.
And I know how easy it is, especially for those of us wired to keep going, to skip that part.
So, if there’s something you’ve completed, big or small, take a moment and let it land.
Cate x
