Making incremental progress towards a long-term goal often goes without notice. However, building a pattern of consistently communicating about progress can both motivate your team as well as give others visibility into your team’s successes. These short-term wins can anchor the change you are trying to work towards.
A Simple Example of Capturing Short-Term Wins
For example, my friend Janet (name changed) is recovering from a surgery where a golf-ball-sized tumor was taken off of her spine. They found that the tumor was indeed cancerous, but fortunately, they do not believe it has spread. Thankfully, no additional treatments will be needed. This is great news. Unfortunately, she faced significant health challenges while recovering from the surgery because of the location of the tumor. She is also in a lot of pain, and the reality of her daily life has changed dramatically. It is not clear whether the damage from the tumor and its removal will be permanent.
As with many people who have had the rug pulled out from under them, finding a way to have hope under these circumstances is difficult. She started to keep a list on her refrigerator of the things she was able to accomplish that day. Her list included things like, “stood up long enough to chop vegetables for dinner” or “bent over to fill the dog dish.”
The list had small items, and each one was a time to reflect and celebrate a small task she was able to complete. Each of these was a short-term win. Over time, page after page, the list on her refrigerator grew longer. Janet was able to appreciate, in a tangible way, that she was making progress.
Recording her wins, and putting them in a place she walked past multiple times a day, was a reminder that she was capable of getting things done. She was improving. And most of all, she was making progress in her fight to get better.
Extending this Approach
When navigating towards any change, finding and celebrating the short-term wins is a strategy to anchor your progress. In a professional setting, a great habit to establish is getting into a routine where you summarize your short-term wins each Friday. For an individual, this helps you build a record of your progress. At the most basic level, this is like Janet’s list on her refrigerator. This habit creates a tangible record of the progress you are making. Then, you can refer back to your short-term wins for inspiration and encouragement.
There is also power in sharing these lists. A simple practice that yields dramatic results is passing your short-term wins upwards to your manager or outward to your team. For example, Lea McLeod writes about this in 5 Ways to Make Sure Your Boss Knows Just How Awesome You Are. She recommends getting on your manager’s calendar bi-weekly to share the status of your current projects. Your list of short-term wins provides content for this discussion. It keeps your manager informed about the progress you are making.
Capturing your short-term wins in a technique that is visible to both yourself and your colleagues. It is an effective way to anchor the changes you are trying to achieve and keep motivation strong along your journey.
Activity
Commit to spending 30 minutes each Friday morning to summarize your achievements that week.
(The featured image is from Peyri.)
