It’s about three weeks away from the start of National Nurse’ Week, and the conclusion of the Art of Nursing virtual program. This Nurse Entrepreneur has been laying low and taking it easy. Which at times means: pangs of guilt and feelings of laziness.

So how come I have been taking it easy and why am I less active online and via social media? I am proud to say I am finally walking my talk in one of the hardest areas of any nurse’s lives.

[Tweet “I’ve been taking time off to celebrate my success.”]

That’s right this nurse entrepreneur has been taking a well-deserved break. With the Art of Nursing wrapping up at close to three hundred participants, two organizations and an exceptional faculty group putting on the event with me- we really came in at 100% success. You can check out some of the feedback we have received by viewing the Art of Nursing words of praise page here.

As I was practicing my morning meditation, I found myself reflecting on being a nurse and celebrating our success. Why is it that it can be so difficult to take a short break to revel in our accomplishments? Have you ever noticed that nurses successfully complete one task, skill or experience only to move right into the next?

There could be several reasons for this, most of which are beyond our control:

• We have been raised to believe that only when we are in ‘action’ are we moving forward;
• From very early on we experience an overwhelming enculturation that non-doing is lazy;
• As nurses we are exposed to words, phrases and stereotypes that we have to surrender ourselves for others.

Even a promotional post for the documentary, The American Nurse, was shared at my work and read: “a screening of the documentary film that celebrates the dedication and sacrifice that nurses make“.

It’s no wonder nurse’s feel guilty taking a break! We just aren’t viewed in the public eye as needing one.

Well as I mentioned I have taken the past month off to relish my own success and accomplishment. And it has been feeling really darn good. Almost so great that I don’t feel like getting back into the groove of things.

Yet taking this time off has not been totally full of laziness and sloth. Here are 3 of the unintended benefits that come from taking time to revel in your own success:

• Greater Clarity. So often during the hustle and bustle of ‘action’ we are overrun with the information of the outside. We get our colleagues’ opinions, our customers’ needs, or our friends’ desires wrapped with and tangled up in our own. We may lose sight of our authentic selves and those true heart’s desires we long for. Taking pause after a great success allows you to bask in the solitary time of checking in with your inner self.
• Lessons Learned. This time between one finished project and another new one that will inevitably begin gifts us with a lot of time. We can take advantage of this simple pleasure to reflect on how things went. What did we enjoy? What went well? What can we change next time to make it even better? Having time to celebrate the success also allows us to learn from our previous actions.
• Increased Productivity. It’s no surprise that this downtime is a re-fueling space. We are able to rest, restore and replenish ourselves with non work activities that refresh our energy centers. In taking time to enjoy the success we feel the benefits of our hard work and this makes us more likely to continue on when the going gets tough the next time. For it is in these memories of really feeling the accomplishments that keeps us motivated to move forward again.

What about you? What would you add to this list? What benefit do you see in actually taking the time to quiet down after a wonderful accomplishment and really feel the joy of success?

As nurses we can think about graduating from a degree, passing a certification exam or even presenting at a conference. After the hard work was done and the compliments started coming in, what could you have done to allow that feeling of success to last just a little bit longer?

I would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment, question or reflection below. Thank you for reading and enjoy your health today.