Be Successful in Small Ways

Have you been successful today?

I hope the question doesn’t make you cringe. If it does, I hope I can help you see the many small ways you have been successful.

We often think of success on a macro scale. We may consider ourselves successful if:

• We got a raise, a promotion, or award
• We achieved a big milestone
• We feel like we’re on the top of the world

Even the most successful people don’t garner those kinds of wins every day. We’ll never feel successful if we hold ourselves to that level of achievement.

I propose a more reasonable and attainable way to define success.:

We are successful when we accomplished something worth doing.

So let me ask the question again—Have you accomplished something worth doing today?

I bet you have.

If we’re used to noticing only Big Important Successes it may take some practice to reorient out thinking to see the many small successful moments in our days.

To feel successful we need to recognize the smaller ways that we meet expectations, accomplish goals, or do something praiseworthy.

To help you notice your small daily successful moments, I’ve created a the following checklist:

A Have I Been Successful in Small Ways checklist

Have I …

• Made progress on an important task (even one small step)
• Lent a hand to someone
• Accomplished an unpleasant chore
• Worked up the courage to have a difficult conversation
• Encouraged someone
• Resisted temptation
• Held to my boundaries when someone pushed me
• Stood up for my beliefs
• Made someone smile
• Done a random act of kindness
• Met my daily goal on a habit I’m trying to establish
• Reached out to someone who needed a lift
• Helped someone else succeed at a task
• Learned something new
• Found a solution to a problem
• Taken the first step in a new project
• Figured out the next step in a complex project

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Every one of the actions listed makes a difference to at least one person, or represents forward progress on a goal. They don’t all leave us feeling euphoric or victorious, but they are all actions worth doing.

You can take this model and create your own checklist of small but important ways you can accomplish something worth doing.

So today—go forth and be successful!