Merry and happy holidays to you all – whatever you celebrate or don't, wherever you are in the world…I hope you are surrounded by joy, friends, family and everything else good as we close out 2019. Can you believe it's almost the end of another year? We've hit a milestone here on the podcast with 80 completed episodes. So much to celebrate – and as you'll learn today, it's very important to celebrate…everything. Yes, everything. Big, small, momentus or seemingly mundane…celebration is great for our brains! This is based on a lot of the foundations I shared with you in The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude.

Being grateful breeds happiness. It also makes people more creative and even sleep better. Being grateful makes the people around you happier, you perform better in life and work, and have better memory retention and better relationships. It's an all around great thing. Celebrating is very similar to that. Celebrating allows you to slow down – be thoughtful – and reflect on the great things you have done. On the achievement in front of you.

Many of us achievers who want to achieve big things in this world, and I'm guessing that's you if you have chosen to listen to this podcast, we tend to keep our eyes on the prize. We haven't "made it" yet, and so every milestone along the way is just a check mark on the road to greatness. But it needs to be more than that. We need to celebrate the big and small accomplishments and the things that we are so very grateful for. In this episode, I kick things off by sharing some of the Brainy things that I am grateful for and celebrating.

Show Notes:

• [04:07] Our brains choose to do what has felt good in the past. Our experiences are shaped by our actions…not the other way around.
• [04:31] When we celebrate and mark things in our memory as achievements that make us feel good our brain will look for more of those achievements to boost ourselves up and create a more positive outlook on life.
• [04:42] "Celebrations are the punctuation marks that make sense of the passage of time; without them, there are no beginnings and no endings. Life becomes an endless series of Wednesdays." David Campbell
• [05:24] I love celebrating and have always been able to find the silver linings as a default.
• [05:58] If you have employees, celebrate them at their annual review. I encourage my employees to keep track of wins when they came in. This makes a huge list of accomplishments to begin the annual review.
• [07:19] The BE Thoughtful Notebook is coming out in 2020! Want one? Get on the waitlist.
• [08:03] This was an amazing year with a lot of great things to celebrate.
• [08:19] Highlights include: The Brainy Business blew past 100,000 downloads with listeners in over 150 countries. I launched two courses that both made money on their first time out, and we already have people signing up for the 2020 courses.
• [09:44] I was offered and started a column with Inc.com; went to visit Texas A&M and started doing research with them (so cool), I spoke to audiences around the country and led workshops abroad. I completed my masters in behavioral economics with a published white paper through the Filene Research Institute and walked at a graduation ceremony. I got to go back to Rome and show my husband where I used to live and we wrapped up our visits to all 50 states. There were amazing partnerships and connections and possible working relationships slated for 2020...so many cool projects underway!
• [10:11] All this amidst a much more balanced family life and bringing some exercise back into the mix, running a 5k in New York with my husband on Thanksgiving, and seeing the Macy's parade in person!
• [10:38] What can you celebrate from 2019? Celebrate those little wins too. It's not all about the big stuff. Share with me on social media.
• [12:08] My dad is a captain for American Airlines. He has flown there for nearly 35 years. His last flight will be on December 19th, and I'll be on it.
• [13:43] Dad, I don't know if you will hear this – I guess this is a test of who really listens to the podcast – ha! – but I am so proud of you and honored to be able to celebrate with you. Congratulations.
• [14:02] I want to wrap up the year and this mini episode (80 episodes of The Brainy Business podcast!) by saying, thank you to you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for making this year amazing.

Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.

Links and Resources:

The BIG Brainy Bundle ending SOON! Use the code BRAINY100OFF by December 31st to get all three pieces (a $1200 value) for just $599. I can't wait to have you join us in 2020.

• Master Your Mindset FREE mini-course
• Episode 76. The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude
• Episode 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You're Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode
• Why You Should Celebrate Everything
• Throw a Party! Why It's So Important to Celebrate
• 3 Reasons Celebrating Your Many Accomplishments Is Critical to Your Success
• 3 Reasons Why It's Important to Celebrate Yourself Every Day
• Episode 79. Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions (And How To Incorporate Them Into Your Business Strategy)
• Episode 78. How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal
• BE Thoughtful Notebook
• The Brainy Business on Facebook
• The Brainy Business on Twitter
• The Brainy Business on Instagram