Taking Account of Little Victories

     I know I'm not the only person in japan who's going into this winter not feeling great about the number of things that need to get done that aren't getting done right this second. 

     That's why it's important for me and for any of you out there who might be feeling the same way to look at our little gains and savor our little victories. We have to remember that progress almost never looks like a straight line to first place. Progress is almost always a series of little victories and little setbacks, moving forward with overall gains until we get where we're trying to go. 

      As I have discussed before seasonal effective disorder, winter really isn't my season and I was supposed to get stuff done this year. I've been trying to clean out space in our small condo apartment so that a new baby might have anursery there. This has been a really emotionally consuming and difficult process for me and it was waylaid midway through the year when my co-worker went on bed rest and I took on more hours at work. This was great financially but also so draining that I couldn't get any of the big project cleaning done on top of that. These days we're back to a more normal schedule and I'm trying to get things done and it's not going as quickly as I'd like.

     Part of me feels like anything that is not an immediate victory is failure. If you're feeling that way too, it might be helpful to take account of your little victories. I keep a list of all the small gains I've made during the week my schedule book. There are little daily use spaces that I don't actually need, so I fill them in past tense with what I accomplished that day. Taking a little time out of the day to reflect on your wins is a great way to remind yourself that winning is happening, even in small increments. Being able to look back through all the victories helps me stay in a positive mindset for going forward.

     So if you feel like you're not getting anywhere on your goals, keep a record of your progress, as little as it seems. It is likely to help.