Small Wins

Tiger Woods has this signature hand motion he does when he sinks a hole. It’s akin to a fist pump, and he does a more muted version of it when it’s a smaller win, and a more pronounced version when he’s hella celebratory. Admittedly, I’ve borrowed this signature fist pump and adapted it as a physical acknowledgement of my own victories, both big and small.

Most of my victories are small. They are making the bed. They are taking a shower. They are answering a phone call. They are getting my oil changed. They are staying patient during a frustrating scenario. They are making space for enjoyment. They are doing something I had resistance to or fear of doing. They are making sure I listened before I started speaking.

Often, I’ve heard the question: “Why should I celebrate myself for things that I should already be doing?”

Great question! Maybe you don’t need to!

But lot of people do. Including myself.

I could even counter that question with another question: “Do you keep a running tally of what you could be doing better?” If the answer is yes, then what I offer is only balance to that tally.

While I celebrate little wins no matter my circumstances, I’ve found the habit of physicalizing recognition of a job well done to be most useful when I’m struggling with motivation, exhaustion, overwhelm, lack of purpose, grief, or depression.

Celebrating yourself for moving throughout a day, engaging with mundane responsibilities and challenges, and caring for yourself and others while doing it, can help bolster a useful perspective. It can counteract a consuming all-or-nothing narrative. It can encourage you to keep going. It can help you see where you have power and choice.

Physicalizing recognition allows you to communicate to your more unconscious parts. I don’t just think to myself “good job,” I Tiger Woods fist-pump to myself “good job.” In doing that, I reinforce physically that I am capable of victory and celebration, and it lightens the load enough to create space for something new to come through and help push out what might be stagnate.

I encourage you to find some way to physically acknowledge all that you do well in a day. Maybe you write it down, maybe you sing to yourself, or maybe you borrow the fist-pump for a bit. It just might help you to paint a more accurate picture of who you are.