Honoring Your Everyday Wins (Part 1)

The biggest mistake we make as human beings is focusing on the ultimate goal. We underestimate how small wins can help us achieve a greater outcome. Celebrating our everyday wins allows us to take a different approach. An approach that focuses on motivating ourselves and celebrating each step towards success. In this article, we want to share with you how your personal and professional life changes when you start honouring your everyday wins.

What are small wins? Small wins can be defined as a series of steps taken towards an achievement. These wins on their own may seem of moderate importance, however, if assembled they show relevant footsteps towards a definitive goal. This way you can make progress in a meaningful and unforgettable way. On top of that, celebrating small wins is proven to help boost your confidence and determination.

Unfortunately, society influences us in thinking that success happens overnight. Contrarily, success is a progressive experience. When we start focusing on the small steps, we feel much closer to our main mission. Stop focusing on the great success others made and you will start appreciating your small victories and envisioning yourself closer to your desires.

An article written by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer (2011), reveals that managers who focus on progress are more likely to improve organisation’s performance and employees’ wellbeing. Both authors suggest that managers who help their employees notice their everyday progress, will observe an increase in motivation which is essential for great performance.

When focusing on professional achievements, don’t just wait for that promotion to happen, or that job interview to start in your industry. Start connecting with people, researching your future colleagues and courses you can do to help you get closer to your goal. There a number of websites you can use to find mentors in your chosen sector or to talk with some talented people in your industry.

For instance, two great websites to start with are:

Meet a Mentor: It’s a community of over 1900 members from the UK tech industry. They have over 600 mentors from juniors to experts. New members, after signing up, are contacted by a member of the team. Subsequently, you will receive a list of mentors to choose from and connect with. This way you can open a dialogue to discuss career goals. The link to the website can be found here.

LunchClub: Launch Club is a website that uses AI to connect people who work in the same sector and/or have similar interests. Their mission is to make professional connections easy, meaningful and fun. This is a great website to use to amplify your network.

You can access the website here.

These two websites offer a great opportunity to get all those career questions answered whatever level you are at. In addition, they allow you to connect and exchange ideas with like-minded people.

You can also access a range of free courses online to help you get the skills needed in your industry. A great website to get you started is:

Alison: It’s a website that offers a number of free course. You will only need to sign up with your email address and choose a course. This online platform enables you to study, upskill and earn a certificate to show off on your CV. The website can be accessed here.

In a Ted Talk, Mehrnaz Bassiri suggests four steps to help you achieve your goals. These steps include:

• Having a clear vision of your main goal

• Break the goal into multiple and achievable small wins

• Focus on the journey

• Choose a few people to support you during your journey

Here, at Winning Women Series, we believe that there should be a fifth step. This step is honouring and celebrating your everyday wins. There are a number of ways one can celebrate small wins, even in the middle of a pandemic.

Here, are a few ideas:

1. Take a day off, and watch your favourite movie

2. Video-call your friends and family

3. Fill a jar with written notes honouring your small wins

4. Start a diary and write down your everyday wins

5. Take time to acknowledge your efforts

6. Give yourself a weekend bonus (10 points = order dinner)

Winning Women Series’ mission focuses on building a strong community of women. To honour the everyday wins that build up to our ultimate impact. This is the secret behind all sustainable change that matters. On our Friday meetings, we always take some time to share our small wins. For instance, our in-house designer Sheyla keeps a journal to help her track all those ideas and affirmation each morning. It is a great way to stay positive and focused on what’s ahead.