Celebrating the Small Victories
Appreciate the effort behind the larger goals that you’re striving for
by Gabriella Di Dea
Another day, another to-do list.
If you’re anything like me, each day can tend to feel the same. You might be someone who adds a plethora of items to a never-ending list of tasks. At times, you might even find yourself getting discouraged because not every box has been checked by the end of the day. In these moments of discouragement, it’s easy to feel like you’re stuck in a rut or trapped in an endless cycle of unproductivity.
But if we’re honest with ourselves, is that really true? Obviously not—just because not everything got done doesn’t mean that you did nothing.
When we set such high expectations for ourselves, we risk losing a sense of appreciation for the things that we have accomplished. We become so caught up in everything we haven’t done that we never feel satisfied or like we are doing enough.
So, what do we do?
I think it’s time for all of us—including myself—to take a step back. We need to acknowledge even the smallest things we accomplish as time well spent and worthwhile. You got something done. And even if you didn’t check it off your list, you still spent time, energy, and effort on it. That deserves to be recognized, whether or not you can put a mark next to it to signify its completion.
Besides, to achieve those bigger accomplishments, the smaller ones need to be done first. So don’t wait until everything is fully completed to allow yourself to feel a sense of accomplishment. Instead, take a moment to appreciate what you have done already.
If we give ourselves the room to appreciate all of the small moments where we think, “Wow, I did a good job on this one thing,” then when we finally reach the larger achievement, it feels so much more meaningful. You can more deeply appreciate all the effort it took to get there.
Celebrate the small wins, so you can better appreciate everything it took to reach the bigger achievements.
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