The simple act of setting a goal kick-starts a powerful chain of events for you and your life. That’s because your goal creates a clear and specific route through your life. Your goal sends instructions about what you need to focus on and what you need to switch off.  It helps you to decide what tangents and diversions to avoid so you can hold true to what you really want.

But it’s a mistake to focus on your finish line alone. Zig Ziglar said it best. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

Sure, you’ve got to think big, but you’ve also got to enjoy the process too.

And one powerful way to do that is to write down your wins along the way to the ‘big one’ - however small.

Not only does this simple success habit help you enjoy your life, but it also fuels further success (and makes it more likely that you’ll hit that finish line).

Here’s how…

1. Cultivates confidence

Goals are going to push you out of your comfort zone. It’s inevitable. Strive to achieve something you’ve never done before and you’ll have to learn new things and explore fresh limits. It’s how goal setting helps you grow and evolve as an individual.

But it’s a rocky road (as you’ll know if you’ve ever hustled after goals in the past). As you explore your limits, you’ll also make mistakes and ‘fail’’ and this can knock your confidence - even put the brakes on action.

Writing down your wins helps switch on the frame of mind you need to keep going - regardless of the chaos you currently face.

Celebrate the mini-wins along the way and you’ll create a string of new references that you CAN do it. Over time, this practice builds your confidence because as those wins clock up, you’ll see yourself as a winner.

When you know you can achieve, you’ll feel more confident moving through the ‘failures’. You’ll know you’ll find a way through any roadblocks and challenges. You’ll know you do have what it takes to succeed. In this way, confidence is not only the catalyst for the goal you’re working towards currently, but for tackling bigger and bigger goals in the future too.

2. Nurtures positivity and optimism

The more you do, the more you feel you CAN do. This mindset shift is a game-changer when it comes to creating your best self and setting goals that help you create the life you want.

Every time you write down a win, you create a new reference point of what you actually achieved.

We get it… It’s tempting to downplay or overlook the little victories labelling them insignificant in the big scheme of things, but that’s not true.

On those days when things go wrong, when your confidence takes a knock, or when the self-doubt wreaks havoc with your mojo, being able to look back through your wins provides you with a motivational boost to keep going.

It reminds you of who you really are.

Celebrate your victories and you’ll nurture the positive mindset that’s crucial - if you want to achieve big things.

Because whether you think you can or you think you can’t, YOU’RE RIGHT.

3. You get what you focus on

Have you ever got a new car only to see that car pop up everywhere (where you previously only saw one once in a blue moon?)

This mysterious set of events isn’t a coincidence and your new car didn’t suddenly become popular overnight. Instead, you can thank your brain for its selective attention.

Inside your brain stem is a clever bundle of nerves called the Reticular Activating System (or RAS). The job of your RAS is to show you information from the world that supports your beliefs and interests. With so many stimuli out there, we can’t process it all. Instead, we need a filter that allows us to see the world through our chosen lens.

So the new car parked outside your house… the reason it’s suddenly ‘everywhere’ is because that particular make, model, and color is now important to you (where it wasn’t before).

But what does this have to do with success?

When you habitually write down your wins, you train your RAS to look for more of them. Suddenly, you’ll see wins everywhere. It’s simple, it’s powerful, and it’s a strategy that can transform what you believe is possible for you and your life.

4. Track your progress

You never achieve a big goal overnight.

Instead, you sow the seeds and make progress over time. This slowness can be a problem. When change is gradual, it’s often so subtle that you don’t see it. You can actually struggle to get a clear before and after view so you can own the extent to which you have evolved.

But track your wins along the way and you can benchmark your success.

Suddenly, it’s clear just how far you did come.

You’ll see significant progress where you didn’t see any before and this shift in perception will inspire and motivate you to do more and more. After all, success is addictive. We like the way it makes us feel. Own more of the micro wins along the way to the biggie and you’ll train yourself to take the actions that lead to the highs that ownership of your wins fuels.

5. Learn more about yourself

Logging your wins is about more than patting yourself on the back.

It also creates an opportunity for you to learn from those experiences.

Wins are never accidental. Reflect on the events, mindsets, decisions, and actions that led to your success and you will see patterns.

There’s a chance some of those patterns will be repeatable. In other words, if you did it once, then you can do it again.

They say success leaves clues.

So capture your wins with curiosity and you’ll uncover the secrets that will help you achieve more of what you want. It’s an empowering behaviour that’s going to help you go even further than you currently imagine is possible for you.

Log your wins DAILY

As a big thinker and a high-achiever who has high expectations for yourself and your life, it’s not surprising you downplay the little victories along the way.

Instead, you tell yourself things such as...

‘Is it really that significant.’

‘It was only a little.’

‘Anyone could have done that’

But this thinking harms your ability to hit the goals that are going to change your life.

Logging the small victories along the way isn’t about stroking your ego. Instead, it’s a success practice that builds momentum, fuels positivity, nurtures self-awareness, and makes you hungry for even more success.

That’s why you’ll find a section on every daily page of the Self Journal to capture your daily wins.

It’s a powerful, intentional section of the daily template that will help you think bigger and achieve more, while you enjoy today.

Are you in the habit of writing down and tracking your goals?

If not, start today. Use your Self Journal to fuel your best self by owning all your wins - even the ones that feel too small to capture. They’re ALL a significant part of your journey.