Celebrate Your Wins!
No matter how small they are along the path to your ultimate goal when you celebrate each step you’ll feel energised and motivated along the way.
It can be easy to feel overwhelmed and disempowered to create change in the world. If you are feeling “less than” or powerless, I hear that! I’ve had days this month, this summer, and frankly for the past several years where I just couldn’t see what I could do to create the kind of massive positive change I wanted to see in the world.
And yet…
There has always been a spark of fierceness in my heart that keeps pushing me to find a way forward. To seek out the words or actions that help people join together in compassion, with the understanding that we don’t need to agree with one another on everything. We need to search for one common goal that we can work together to accomplish. And sometimes it can be a small goal, like who sets up what at the block party, or how many cupcakes do we bake for the fund-raiser?
“Hope is a gift you don’t have to surrender, a power you don’t have to throw away. Inside the word “emergency” is “emerge”; from an emergency new things come forth. The old certainties are crumbling fast, but danger and possibility are sisters. The future is dark, with a darkness as much of the womb as the grave.”
– Rebecca Solnit, Hope in The Dark
I draw comfort from Solnit’s words. In the reminder that we can move from darkness into light, from unknowing to knowing and from shadow to form. We can emerge from the chaos we are living in and creating if we choose to change.
And there’s the hitch. We each have to choose transformation.
Transformation is a big word and it can feel as overwhelming and impossible to achieve as changing the course of the country, our ideas, or the climate of the country, (both figurative and literal).
When I work with clients I guide them in creating sustainable change. Desired transformations of their lives and work that they feel unable to achieve at the beginning of our work together.
One of the ways we approach transformation is to slow down and focus on the smallest steps.
What do I mean by this?
Well… Most of the time we’ve been taught to focus on the goal we want to achieve. To look far ahead, create an outline, plan, or schedule that leads us to the goal. We get the whiteboard, calendar, or timeline out and list #AllTheThings, (or worse- we try to keep everything in our brains). What often follows the sense of excitement is a sense of overwhelm.
New clients ask me all the time, “How do I accomplish my goals when there are so many things to deal with?”
The first place we start is by applying the Keep It Super Simple method. (K.I.S.S.)
K.I.S.S. Steps:
- Write a 1-2 sentence statement of your overall goal.
- Write the first 3 outcomes that need to happen to move closer to your ultimate goal.
- Write the first 3 physical actions that you need to take to move closer to your first outcome. This might be scheduling a meeting, writing an email, making a call, or doing some research.
- Once you complete the 3 actions, write the next 3 and continue completing actions until that outcome is achieved. Then move to the next outcome.
- Don’t forget to celebrate each step you achieve. When we remain focused on what we are creating, we elevate motivation and energy for the task. And that brings us more energy and motivation for the next steps.
Remember- it’s easy to be overwhelmed by a big project when you try to tackle all the steps at one time, or when you keep looking down the list at #AllTheThings that must happen for you to reach your goal.
By breaking it into small physical actions, taken in sets of 3, you’ll find yourself knowing exactly what has to happen next, and you’ll see ways to make it happen more easily.
One last word of wisdom, take time to celebrate and acknowledge each small step as you go. Notice when your inner critic wants to step in and say “That’s not enough progress”. When that inner critic shows up… thank it for its concern, tell it to go sit quietly in the corner and say, “I’ve got this!”
Because you do!
📞 Want to know more about transforming your life? Schedule a free strategy call with me.
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