On the compounding interest of small wins

 The last post focused n dealing with setbacks. This one deals with the small wins towards our goals. Both are related, but different. Anything we may want to achieve or get to, tends to take time and not be immediate. And truth is, progress is never as fast as we’d hope it to be.

So we’re presented with a choice when we stall or make less progress than we’d like or than we’ve set ourselves as target. We can choose to be unkind to ourselves and beat ourselves by, once again, not having done enough or we can just acknowledge that progress was little or none and be happy that you’re still in the race and you get to keep going.

Because goals shouldn’t be numerical and where most of us get it wrong. It’s not about having X weight by Y date, or running A distance in B time. Those goals often set us to fail, unless you’re a high end or elite athlete, that’s the wrong way to set goals. Because it increases the likelihood that setbacks will bring us down, and makes it almost impossible to celebrate the small wins we get through the process.

So stalling or slow progress is a good thing and you should celebrate it. Because even if the scale isn’t moving or the results are just close enough to what you wanted, what you’re really building is your character. As long as you know that your deeds, your habits and your routine is generally aligned with what you know you ought to do to achieve those goals, that’s what matters. That’s what dictates that it’s inevitable that you’ll achieve them, independent of it taking a few more months than you originally planned.

So, Rafael, learn how to celebrate the small wins and not beat yourself up when you come just a bit short, because we all do and that’s fine. What’s important is that you set a goal and aligned your actions to achieve them, that’s the win. That’s how you define who you want to be and should celebrate that you’re being deliberate about becoming it. The score is what it is, looking at the scoreboard and wallowing won’t change the numbers. Be happy and congratulate yourself that you’re still in the game. All those small wins are helping become who you’ll be and in itself is winning