Small Successes = BIG wins

“Are we there yet?” This is the number one, most frequently asked question on a road trip.
Although we may grow older and stop asking the question, it’s buried deep within our psyche and it doesn’t go away.
Create small successes along your life’s journeys to answer this buried question. Small successes tell the brain, “not yet, but we are getting closer.”
How to create BIG wins from small successes:

1. DEFINE – When you want to accomplish a personal or work related change you must begin with a clear definition of success. What does the BIG win look like?
2. PLAN – what are the steps to the BIG win? This is where to build in the small successes. You must have a future goal bigger than the obstacles you face. However, you need milestones along the way to know that you are still on the right path. This is the secret to success. Small wins add up to the BIG win.
3. DO – you can’t accomplish anything without action. By clearly defining success and making a plan you have a reasonably good start. Accomplish the BIG win by doing the plan!
4. CELEBRATE – rather than wait until the BIG win, celebrate the small successes. Rejoice as each milestone on the plan is completed. Imagine reading a book that had no chapters. After reading twenty pages and then the next fifty, you’d start wondering “are we there yet?”  Milestones on your plan serve as chapters to mark the progress you’ve made.
5. PERSEVERE – research has shown that accomplishment creates resolve and resolve gets results. Too many great ideas go unrealized because they were not fully implemented. The greatest risk of not accomplishing the BIG win is losing the will to persevere.
6. ACCOMPLISH – congratulations, you got the BIG win.

You can accomplish a tremendous amount if you start with one step in the right direction. Define where you want to go, create the plan to get there and then take action. Don’t let too much time pass between the milestones or you will get discouraged.
Break down your BIG win into a series of small successes along the way and watch your motivation grow as you persevere and accomplish your BIG win.