Art of the Small Win

My son is fifteen months old now. In many ways things seem to have settled, but in other ways…well, let’s just say his new ability to climb onto the couch and leap into the great unknown has required added vigilance on my part. The ebb and flow of motherhood is something I’m only just beginning to accept as normal—constant change is not just a season, it’s the whole gig. 

I’ve realized the elusive time in the future when I’ll “catch-up” or “do that thing” or “get back to it” doesn’t exist. If there are things I want or need to do, I’ve got to figure out how to do them now, with a 2’ 3” maniac running wild around my house. So I’m learning how to embrace the small wins… 

I forgot to meal-prep, but I did manage to whip up a lunch my kid loved. (Dino nuggets, don’t judge me.)

I didn’t unload the dishwasher but I did manage to squeeze in 20 minutes of yoga. (Bonus points for the added weight of a toddler climbing on my back.) 

I missed a work call but I didn’t miss my deadline. 

Win, win, draw. 

It’s an ever-evolving scorecard—different days require different priorities. (The mere fact that I’ve finally learned this is yet another win.) At any given moment I’m doing mental calculations to determine how my time is best spent. Sometimes the answer is reading Dragons Love Tacos for the seventh time in a row and just celebrating how much my kid enjoys books. Sometimes it’s letting him fuss at my feet while I send the emails I’d been trying to get around to all day. And sometimes, it means laying catatonic on the couch while we both veg out on snacks and Barney. 

The beauty of these small wins is that they are determined by me. I’m learning to trust my own opinion of what a “win” looks like. I’m the judge and I dole out the score. But that’s not to say that external validation isn’t a nice boost every now and then… 

This philosophy of celebrating small wins extends far beyond the realm of motherhood. Just like I learned to find victories in unexpected places, teams can celebrate milestones big and small. For instance, I can bet that by the time you’re reading this blog, the team at KR Squared will have already complimented me on it. This essay is nothing special—just a few honest words—but Katy and her tribe of powerful women will make sure I feel seen and appreciated. As friends and coworkers, they know this “small task” took time and focus—hot commodities around here. And their words will catapult me to whatever I do next. 

A Gallup poll highlights the power of acknowledging even minor achievements in boosting team morale and motivation. They found that team goal-setting and achievement-celebrating can have a huge impact, even when there's no external crisis to rally against. These small gestures of recognition can make a world of difference.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is this: You are the arbiter of your daily score card. You have the power to turn your losses into wins—merely by declaring them so. But often you have the power to do that for someone else, as well. We must celebrate the small wins, for ourselves and for each other. The coffee sipped while still warm. The wet laundry that made into the dryer. The giggle from your kid. The praise from a coworker. The words you didn’t say. The words you did.

Life is made up of these small moments. Wouldn’t this all be more fun if we celebrated them?