When someone has a major life event, they should celebrate. They’ve been promoted, they’ve hit their sales target for the year, they’ve achieved something they’ve wanted to achieve for 10 years as a means of a long term goal. They take time off, they go to dinner, they celebrate on a holiday. But for some people, they celebrate through meaningful purchases to acknowledge what’s been done and as a constant reminder of what now is. Yet making a meaningful purchase is more than just splurging.
There are meaningful purchases that allow someone to celebrate in the moment and thereafter acknowledge what’s been accomplished. Ideally, a celebratory purchase commemorates the occasion through something tangible that means much more than just a purchase—something exciting and worthwhile.
Why It Works
Yes, making an experience creates a memory but a tangible celebratory purchase equates to daily interactions with something relevant and important. A watch bought upon a promotion gets worn by the individual daily—every time they look down at it and remembers how hard they worked to get into the position in which they are employed. A painting bought up of a business deal hung on the wall reminds anyone who passes by of the potential of what someone can achieve.
Celebratory purchases serve as anchors in the memory of accomplishments. They ground something abstract into something reality based and present. Five years down the road, someone may not remember all the details of that specific project but the purchase made in celebratory acknowledgment is still present and living before them. It’s positive reinforcement that works over time.
What Works Best
There are several types of celebratory purchases that work best and often they pertain to the accomplishment and the person who made the achievement. Someone who loves to drive may purchase something for their car—Private Plates with their name upon it for other drivers to acknowledge their entrepreneurial side, proud of themself for being able to purchase it in the first place. Someone who is home more often may buy something for their home or something for their wall that makes them want to be home more often.
It must make sense and not be excessive or overblown. If someone gets promoted for an extra $1000 and spends $50,000 on a purchase marking that celebration, it’s counterintuitive to getting that raise in the first place. It must be extreme enough to note the occasion but practical enough to keep practical progress going with the purchase for oneself.
When It Makes Sense
Purchasing a meaningful purchase for oneself makes sense when one knows they’ve done something special. However many people fail to purchase nice things for themselves because they feel they don’t deserve it. Purchasing something significant after achieving something significant isn’t excessive if someone acknowledges all their hard work went into this achievement getting them the possibility of this new item.
If someone fails to celebrate it merely means that people pass by milestones without acknowledging them all the time. It’s a ridiculous notion that denies incentive and renders progress less than important.
The Psychology Behind It
Making something celebratory purchases marks the reward system because it’s less selfish and superficial but instead valuable in its positive reinforcement. It’s not that people are materialistic it’s just easier with tangible means for one’s brain to render hard work into items they can call their own. The item symbolizes successfulness from where they were to where they are now.
Furthermore, it symbolizes subsequent motivation based on what comes next because things build momentum in their favor. It makes no progress abstract when something positive occurs and it’s rendered concrete in a physically applicable way which means that whenever something positive happens there’s every possibility of a big growing spurt behind it.
Something That Lasts
The best celebratory purchases do not have to carry sentimental value but instead hold a power that lasts physically and psychologically. They need to be durable for years while still being something anyone would gift themselves for years to come this year however if it were not given at this time.
Something small like a tote bag with little note cards inside might be ideal in a celebratory purchase at this time if it doesn’t hold value for long because it’s stupid or trendy. Something more valuable though, holds better potential than something wacky for the moment.
One Great Thing Instead of Many
One good thing is better than a bunch of mediocre things because an intentional purchase stands solid among many things that happen coincidentally without much thought connecting over time with what’s been done. Sometimes people operate on an established pattern or path with these purchases making it seem like turning pages in someone’s autobiography instead of only writing his or her own chapters along the way.
It’s not about cost—it could be an inexpensive purchase over time but instead having something familiar happen ensures things get acknowledged when they need to be and everyone knows how everyone else’ step turned out when time comes down.
The Practical Side
Not everything needs celebrating and not everything needs meaning. Sometimes they acknowledge things too much which makes people feel good and then fail to separate what could be useful and functional within their lives post-celebration.
For those who need to acknowledge functioning separate from what’s been achieved, allowing celebratory purchases to come based on meaningful utility gives people justification when they’re feeling guilty about celebrating symbolism not always associated with more selfish notions.
A new laptop suggests new ideas for work which implies good things will come which makes sense with the new machine. The new car gives people better access for better driving which suggests better possibilities which make sense with whatever they’ve afforded themselves at this time.
Making a big celebratory progress through meaningful purchases isn’t about spending money unwisely it’s about acknowledging where one came from by facings those improvements in acknowledgement for years to come instead of abstract ideas that never get acknowledged again once they were middle-of-the-road accomplishments.
Read more lifestyle and self care articles at ClichéMag.com
Images provided by Deposit Photos, BingAI, Adobe Stock, Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay Freepik, & Creative Commons. Other images might be provided with permission by their respective copyright holders.
