Oprah Winfrey once said: 'The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.'
Whether it's a job promotion, an engagement, buying a flat or the little everyday high five moments that come our way (for us, it's making it through the day without tripping over), women are notoriously bad at self-congratulation.
Of course, social media is rife with users boasting about their lives – be it a photo album of a friend's new house or a colleague's Instagram story about how they've found time to go the gym, do the weekly shop, socialise with friends and get to bed before 10pm on a weeknight.
And while there's nothing wrong with celebrating the little things in life that make you happy, there's a fine line between self-celebrating and bragging that many women find hard to navigate.
The thought of praising our achievements in front of others can often be uncomfortable, coupled with the worry that we might come across as unncescesarily drawing attention to ourselves and boasting about how great our lives are, making others feel worse about theirs.
Of course, this doesn't matter as much in social situations (so you've been on holiday to Bora Bora with your model-lookalike boyfriend while I'm spending most weeknights on the sofa popping open a tube of Pringles, good for you), it can be incredibly detrimental in business and corporate environments.
By not practicing self-congratulation, when the opportunity arises for a job promotion or additional responsibility, those of us who cower at the thought of self-praise are unaccustomed to celebrating our achievements and therefore might feel underserving of the opportunity.
In turn, by not pushing ourselves forward and reminding people of our achievements in the workplace, we're more likely to be overlooked for the new role or the pay rise.
Fortunately, this isn't the case for one woman from California who is giving us a well-needed lesson in sharing her success with the world.
After numerous job applications and interviews, Benita Abraham celebrated getting a new job in health administration by posting a series of hilarious photos of her basking in her new job offer, or as Benita likes to call, her 'boo'.
Over the weekend, the 37-year-old posted a photo album to Facebook with a status update that read:
'So excited to share my happy news with my FB family!
'I finally found my soulmate, my perfect match, my boo. After 7 long months, I found the perfect job with a company that truly cares about its employees and one I will learn so much from.'
She also captioned the update with witty hashtags such as '#perfectmatch', and '#loveatfirstinterview'.
Throughout the album, Benita can be seen posing alongside a framed letter of her job offer with placards reading 'I said Yes' and a timeline of her 'relationship' with her new job-to-be.
So next time you've achieved a big goal in your life, make à la Benita and shout about it to the world.
What's life if it's not worth celebrating, right?
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
