Celebrate progress

I used to be (sometimes still am) really hard on myself. I often wrote unachievable to-do lists (lists that I could realistically complete in 2-3 days), and when (surprise!) I couldn't finish them in a day, I felt like a failure.

After realising this, I started writing my tiny achievements in a diary. No matter how small or big the step is, like launching my website, filing my own trademark, landing my first client or simply having a business meeting (regardless of the outcome), I add it to my business diary with the date. Sometimes I also pop a bottle of Prosecco at these occasions.😃

I don't write every day, I have about 30 entries from the past 6-8 months. When I look at these small achievements I simply cannot be hard on myself because I can clearly see the progress and realise (hope) that these baby steps will add up in the long term. It just takes time.

Of course, I didn't invent this method, it is just something that worked for me. "Start small and celebrate progress" is a quote I recently came across, and it describes something very similar.

I highly encourage you to stop for a few minutes every weekend and think about what you achieved that week. Did you help a client? Did you get one of your patent applications approved? Did you finish a difficult assignment?

Don't forget to stop a bit and celebrate your progress. 🍾