For When You Need A Win
So you need a win? That’s great. We all need wins.
Well, good news: You opened the right email. I promise you will end this email with a win.
And if you close this email now because you know you’ve got things to do—that’s okay; you’re prioritizing. And I have a secret. That’s a little win, too.
But if you keep going, you’re going to get a win that’s not just a handout. This win means something. It’s real. You’re going to get it by making it through this email. So, if you need a win, let’s keep going.
When you need something, you can put in the effort.
The good news is this is an easy read.
There are not a ton of action items. Read my other posts for that.
There are not a lot of dense ideas. Read my other posts for that, too.
And there’s nothing where you have to look deep inside and excise your demons.
Well, maybe a little.
No, this is going to be nice and easy.
Still, opening this email could have been a huge task. You might be rolling your eyes, but it could have been!
You could be busy.
Things could be hard.
Maybe you’re stressed.
Maybe you’re feeling small.
Maybe you didn’t sleep enough.
You could be overwhelmed with 100 unread emails.
Maybe you’re not feeling any of those things, but I don’t care who you are; jumping into your inbox isn’t pleasurable. In fact, I can’t think of the last time I got an email and thought, “Yes. YES! I’m so happy I got this email.”
You didn’t have to open this email.
And you didn’t have to open any email.
But you did, and you’re getting through it.
You overcame everything to read this damn email.
I want you to consider how you will get through this email. It’s effortless, yet it takes effort to get through. It’s not nothing.
In each word, you’re processing so much information,
letters,
context,
syllables,
meanings,
You’re doing it. You’re a natural - you know exactly what to do. Relax into it.
It’s almost over already. 360 words down, that’s like an AP News article. You breezed right through. That’s a win.
You may be thinking, “So what, Stephen? This isn’t a big deal. It’s not like I just closed a big sale or made a million dollars.”
Sure, that’s right. But you’re getting through. The only thing that separates us from getting through this email, and the emails that is a big deal, is a few little words, some numbers, and maybe a different sender.
But whatever. I don’t care about any of that. Your “little” win is still a win.
Sometimes, we’ve racked up a lot of losses.
And you need something to break the chain.
I’ve been there. I’ve been beaten down, and I’ve lost a bunch.
I’ve also woken up, looked at my unread email count, closed my email, and gone back to bed.
I’ve let the chain of losses and stress beat me.
And I’ve also taken a deep breath and replied a simple “yes” to an email.
And that progress isn’t a lot, but it’s the first step in building momentum. It’s a win.
You only need one win to start building up to the NEXT win. You’re through this email this far, and I want you to bask in the win that you read all that.
It’s not an amazing win.
It’s no War and Peace.
But it’s something.
I want you to look at this and say aloud, “I got a win.” Do it, even if you’re in the office right now, and it’ll look like you’re talking to yourself, and you’ll feel embarrassed. I want you to say, “I’m ready for another win.”
I want you to acknowledge this win. You have more to do, and maybe you want bigger wins you know are out there. But this win doesn’t count unless you CELEBRATE THIS WIN. You need to acknowledge your wins to GET your wins.
And I know you’ve got so many things coming down the line. And I know sometimes, it feels like celebrating a win will keep you away from your next win. It won't. Acknowledge your wins.
It's not easy.
It's exhausting.
Exhausting to take care of others, let alone yourself.
But remember, you can’t take care of others if you can’t care for yourself.
So, for a moment, I want you to talk to yourself like you’d talk to someone who needs you.
I want you to talk to yourself like someone you care about and you want to succeed.
I want you to take out your mental yellow highlight and underline your wins for yourself.
I want you to empathize with your losses.
And I want you to tell yourself that you’re good enough to get some more wins.
I want you to know that it is STRONG to be an excellent coach to yourself.
Do it right now if you didn’t before. Jump up to that first bullet point and talk to yourself. You can even just say it in your head. And when you’re done, keep going.
You made it.
All the way to here.
We’ve got some wins here.
I’m going to tell you about them.
You don’t have to take these wins.
But I bet someone else will take them.
And they’ll take these wins on to a better day.
Here are some wins:
You started. Nice. You could have let this go by, but you didn’t. Win.
You kept going. When I told you you could drop out right at the top, you could have dropped out, but you pushed through. Win.
Every paragraph was another win.
You were kind to yourself by celebrating your “little win” earlier, right? Being kind to yourself is sometimes the hardest win to get. And you got it. Win.
And you coached yourself, you highlighted your wins, and you knew you were ready to go get more wins. That’s a big win.
How about you give yourself a smile? People see you smile and go, that person’s having a win. If you have a little smile somewhere here, that’s a win.
You’re stronger now. You got through this email; each act of concentration builds you further. Win.
You are reading this, and it is a win you gave me, so thank you. I am writing this for you. I’ve got a journal. I can write for myself, but you reading this means a lot to me. So you gave someone else hope. That’s a win.
And you read the subject line, and you said I needed a win, well you got wins.
This is the end, but we’re not really ever done. Take this win with you for the rest of the day.
And yeah, I want you to comment. And yeah, I want you to share, but more important is you take this win and just enjoy it for a second.
Sometimes, we need to be tough on ourselves. I know that. But sometimes, when you build up those losses, all it takes is one win to break the streak and get you back on the right path. And you’ve shown you can get some wins.
I hope you have a better day from here on out.