Tips On How To Celebrate Small Wins Every Day

Hi there! I hope you’re doing well out there.

The morning has already started off on a great note for me, and it’s because I’m sitting here typing away with a hot cup of coffee while the boys are still sleeping. I used to be in the habit of going to bed earlier to wake up earlier on the regular, but that is something that hasn’t happened in a long time. And I missed it!

So yeah, the fact that I’m up and at ’em early is small, but it’s also something to celebrate.

I shared a snippet of this on Instagram yesterday, and it got me thinking that celebrating the small wins deserves its own blog post. Here’s why!

What exactly is a small win?

Small wins can vary from person to person and can cover a wide variety of topics. It’s anything from finishing a chapter in your studying process to staying on track with your workout plan. It can be something that seems simple to others, but not simple to you … like keeping your plants alive (that’s a dicey one for me!), or knowing what you’re going to have for dinner before 5 p.m.

Small wins aren’t meant to change the world, but they can change your life with the right mindset. (Read that again!)

Why should small wins be celebrated?

It’s been an emotionally exhausting few months – to say the least – and I’ll be the first to admit that seasons like this make it more challenging to hit bigger goals. It’s just harder to get ahead and stay ahead.⁣ Enter small wins!

Small wins are important to recognize and acknowledge to help us through the harder days and seasons. They exist to make us smile and keep us motivated.
⁣
When you find yourself in a rut, it might be helpful to take a step back and look at the overall picture. Maybe the goals you first made at the beginning of the year need some re-assessing, and that’s okay.⁣

The key to long-term success is adaptability and being able to recognize the small wins in between the big ones. Small wins help you stay motivated with a positive mindset and can even improve your confidence.

Here are my biggest tips on how to celebrate them every day!

Notice them and get excited about them!

Take the time to think about the small wins that you achieve. Don’t brush over them, especially if you had to change something for the better in order to achieve them!

For example, maybe you struggle to floss your teeth every day. If you feel too tired to spend that extra two minutes flossing at night, try adding it to your morning routine instead, or even after you eat lunch. Your teeth don’t care when you floss, just that it happens. This approach really helped me, and I consider it a win when I go to the dentist and they recognize my daily flossing habits. (Right?!)

Another example could be the act of jogging or running. This isn’t for everyone, but there are a lot of people who strive to incorporate the exercise into their daily routine. Start small with ten minutes per day and go at a comfortable pace. Once you get that habit down, increase the time and/or pace and keep adding on.

Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back when these small wins happen, either! It’s easy to overlook the small wins and only concentrate on the bigger ones. But, seeking out the small accomplishments in your days and getting excited about them can do wonders for your motivation and productivity. Go on and give it a try!

Talk about them with loved ones.

Communicating your goals with the people you love is a big part of succeeding in them. (This is very true for me!) Actually writing your goals out on paper, saying them out loud and sharing them is huge. It’s like they suddenly become real, and you have a whole support system to help hold you accountable in working towards them.

You don’t have to broadcast them on the Internet, but it would be beneficial to share them with at least one person. Tell them about your small win and they will want to celebrate with you when you achieve it!

And, maybe your friend will want to experience the same win, too. You just never know.

Live in the present.

It’s easy to take the present for granted. I know I am guilty of this, and I have spent way too much of my time thinking about the past or dreaming about the future.

Think about it … when you’re stuck in this type of thinking, you’re missing out on what is actually in front of you every day. And, you start to believe that the actions you do don’t really matter. These habits lead to disappointment and doesn’t help anyone.

Instead of thinking about the past or future, live for the day and celebrate the elements that make you happy. Acknowledge the day to day moments that add up to win after win. This can have a huge impact on your outlook and improve your experience in life with more successes.

And, yes, I can tell you that this is all true from experience.

Don’t pile unnecessary pressure on yourself.

Our world is filled with deadlines. These come from work, our families, and even ourselves. We set big goals for ourselves, and then what happens when we don’t hit them? We can lose our steam and motivation to keep going because we feel like we failed.

Setting deadlines for goals and things that are important to us is a good thing to do, but they also have to be realistic and adaptable.

If there is a goal you are working towards that is stressing you out more than bringing you joy, it might be time to reassess and replan. Maybe extend the deadline a little or lower the numbers. This is completely okay to do, but it’s easy to forget to do. Avoid putting unnecessary pressure on yourself by allowing flexibility into your life!

Form habits that turn into small wins every day.

If I consider waking up early to get things done in a quiet house a win, then I need to start thinking about how I can achieve that. If I don’t want to wake up feeling tired, then I need to go to bed at a reasonable hour to get enough sleep the night before. Maybe I need to skip the post-dinner glass of wine if it doesn’t translate into an early bedtime. Maybe I need to leave my phone charging in the living room overnight instead of on my nightstand where it’s tempting to grab and scroll. And, maybe I need to preset my coffee machine so that it’s ready to brew and something that I instantly look forward to when I get up!

It’s said that it takes twenty one days to form a new habit, but – of course – that depends on the person and habit. The point is consistency! If something is important for you, stick to it for a period of time to see how it turns out and give it a fair shot.

These little decisions all translate into small wins and long-term habits that can make a big difference in your days!

---

Here’s the big takeaway.

Celebrating the small wins helps you stay motivated. Being able to recognize and acknowledge the small wins every day will improve your confidence and overall happiness, even if you’re going through a harder season. And that’s a huge win for everyone!

Learning to celebrate the small wins gives you the mindset you need to hit the bigger wins, and you might even appreciate them more when they happen.

Thank you so much for reading, and I would love to hear from you.

What is one of your small wins that worth celebrating today?

What is one small win you are working towards for tomorrow?

---

You might also like:

• Word of the Year 2021: Simplify
• All About Habit Stacking And Why Your Should Try It
• 10 Things To Increase Your Productivity
• My Tips 10 Years Into the Season of the Unknown

---

[Photo credit: Jason Roth Photography. Brooklyn/NYC friends — he’s fantastic to work with! Feel free to message me for more information.]