By Racheal Kiiza

The monthly curtains opens revealing November and, if you are like me, panic hits at the thought of the year coming to a close. I rummaged through my diary to look up goals I had set for October, to do a quick evaluation and set new goals for November, per my usual custom.

My heart beat was unusual and I wondered why it raced faster than Hamilton in his rally car. After reviewing my October goals, I realized I had fallen short and hadn’t fulfilled all of them. This can be painful since goals are set to be achieved and that is why they have to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Realistic, Attainable and Time Bound).

At this point it is easy for me (and others like me) to throw pity parties with the same overarching themes:

“Oh, I haven’t achieved all my goals.”

“Why am I the only one who is struggling to find a good paying job? [Some other person] seems to have life going for her.”

“2016 started out well but has turned out to be a tough year. I thought I would have achieved so much but November is here and I haven’t done as much as I anticipated……..”

Ditch these pity parties with their negative themes and try victory parties. You have so much going for you and throwing pity parties only reminds you of how bad you are and what a bad year you are having.
Celebrate yourself, you have many achievements under your belt in different areas of your life: career, parenthood, partnerships, friendships and relationships. Breaking of bad habits, getting to know yourself better etc. In short, you’ve achieved a lot in 11 months. Period.

Bask in the feeling of victory. Break out in dance, in song, eat ice cream or frozen yogurt, buy a new dress, hangout with the girls/boys, read that new book you just bought, take a walk and breath in the air around you without worrying about pollution (hehehe), travel. The list is endless.

Simply bask in your personal victory party because you are throwing it and you determine the program. You are in-charge.