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All too often in the race to success we often forget to stop and “smell the coffee” as often as we should.

I successfully founded and grew a 40-person, four office recruitment business over a 17-year period and to be frank I honestly did not celebrate the milestones and achievements as often as I should have. We always made sure that consultants and staff had the occasions to do so and we had some amazing celebrations and adventures over that time however, I realise that as a business owner/leader in a company you also need to stop and appreciate the success too. Although my focus in this coaching tip is on leaders, this entire concept applies to consultants too.

The concern and impact of not stopping and appreciating, is that you never obtain the natural high obtained from reaching goals and achievements and then all too quickly moving on to the next point of the business plan!

This is a major issue which prevents many people achieving true contentment, Simon Sinek, one of my favourite mentors and speakers focuses on this very point. He has written a fantastic book “The Happiness Advantage” which at Constructive we implemented many of the strategies into day to day working practices in a hope to improve the happiness, positivity and engagement of our team.

The relevant point in the Happiness Advantage in this instance is in the feeling of people’s belief that when they achieve they will be happy. Surprisingly, this has a detrimental impact on the individual because the natural human response and this is especially the case in sales focused individuals, is that goals are simply increased or the next big shiny thing is the next objective. If you got B’s, go get A’s, if you buy a house, go aim for a bigger house, if you achieve your target, now hit a bigger one!

The problem with this is that you never truly feel happy because the goal posts always move forward, in this respect this is what business owners and leaders do all too often.

So next time your business, team or you personally reach a goal, try stopping, appreciate what has been achieved and enjoy that feeling of success and being a winner. This simple change will make sure you are happier, more positive and enjoy the journey far more rather than being so focused on the destination which always keeps moving!