Do you ever dwell on your wins?

Maybe we should...?

If that headline sounds odd, it should.

That's because 'dwell' is an odd word to partner with 'win'.

It is intentional but bear with me.

What does it mean to ‘dwell’?

While historically it has positive religious connections for those who believe, these days it's almost almost always used negatively.

We usually see it written before phrases such as "...on something" or "...on negative experiences" or even, "...on the past."

In all of those negative examples, dwell works.

It seems to perfectly define a sense of lingering, worrying or concern over something bad or indicate a period of overthinking and negative self-doubt.

At best, it might be used neutrally if we have to dwell at an airport while we wait for a connecting flight, but even then that's hardly the most enjoyable of scenarios (unless, I guess you have airport lounge access?).

At work, you can dwell in worry over something you said in a meeting, or when your manager sticks an impromptu "catch up" in your diary with no explanation. I'm also sure many of you reading have been guilty of dwelling on things that you think went wrong on a project, even though they were only minor setbacks.

I can even guarantee you will have dwelled on what else you could have done on a task, even if in reality there was nothing else to give and it was delivered perfectly.

The point is, we've clearly all dwelled.

We can all dwell better

So why then do we not dwell on the good stuff? The time when things went well, when you received great feedback, or successfully delivered a project on-time and under-budget.

Why do we never seem to give ourselves time to sit back and embrace the joy (or occasional relief) after a job well done?

We should.

In this scenario, dwelling is not wallowing or worrying, but instead a time of reflection and a time to breathe. It's the extended moment you should give yourself to reward your efforts, without thinking the most important thing to do is to quickly move onto the next project. Interestingly, one definition of dwell is “to be fully present in a place or with a person”.

Why can’t we reclaim that statement and use it for the better?

If that means treating yourself to a beer, a takeaway or an episode on Netflix, so be it. At least give yourself the time to bask in the positive feeling associated with a win or a success – it often doesn’t linger for long so take advantage of it.

We all deserve to win, but we also deserve the time to dwell on that win too.

Don't you?