Our social media followers will frequently see posts congratulating internal employees on their anniversary with Russell Tobin. Have you ever seen a post and thought, “So, it’s their anniversary…Who cares?”

Work anniversaries should not be taken lightly. Milestone celebrations are what makes the world go ‘round. It gives you a chance to sit back and reflect on life; the good life, the bad life and the ugly life. It gives you a chance to see where you’ve started and how far you’ve gone.

Showing up, working hard and constantly striving to be the best you can be every single day is not an easy feat – no matter how great your organization may be. You will have had your bad days, the days where you don’t want to get out of bed, the days where you have to miss out on a family vacation because you have to travel for work or the days where you have a ‘to-do’ list piled up to your chin that you just stare at and cry. However, with the bad days come personal growth, development and experiences that you cannot buy anywhere.

The most frequent question I always hear in an interview (and the one I dread the most) is, ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ – In the past, I have legitimately googled how to answer that question. I mean, how do you answer that and still make yourself appealing as a candidate? Doesn’t everyone envision themselves traveling the world with endless amounts of money and PTO?

Celebrating a milestone is the best guide to help steer you in the right direction to where you want to be in the next 5 years. It helps identify the personal growth that you have experienced 1 year or even 5 years into the job. Rather than focusing on the job title you’d like in the next 5 years, you turn to focus on how you can become a better leader, better communicator or better contributor to this world.

Reflecting on personal growth is something that gives you purpose – it should be recognized in a positive manner and it should be celebrated by all. Personal growth takes work, hard work. It takes going outside of your comfort zone and having difficult conversations. It takes the courage to want to constantly be better.

Russell Tobin cares about your hard work, personal growth, bad days, good days and ugly days. Anniversaries should not be taken lightly whether you are celebrating 365 days or 1,825 days. Personal growth is not something that you can buy anywhere.