Through my journey of personal development, I've learned one of the most essential habits to creating success – Counting Your Wins. Without it, life will feel like a struggle.
** If you missed How To Win At Life Part I – Feeding Your Mind, click here to read now **
When you’re on the path of creating something significant in your life, challenges will definitely come up. If you think you’re going to create success without challenges, then you need to pay attention right now. And if you don’t pay attention, you may as well quit what you’re doing now.
Let me give you an example of Counting Your Wins in business (note that this is applicable to any area of your life). When you’re building a business you’re going to run into challenges. It could be that you lost some money on an advertising campaign that didn’t work, your Facebook page got shutdown, a prospect was rude on the phone, you didn’t make a sale today or you didn’t get all your to-do list completed. Now, let me ask you two questions. If you came across ten challenges today, do you think you’ll feel more empowered or less empowered at the end of the day? Less empowered, right? And if you feel less empowered, do you think tomorrow you’ll be more motivated to make things happen or less motivated? Less motivated of course!
Let me reveal to you a secret ingredient for creating success: Success only builds on success. Just like when I had challenges at the beginning of my business, I still have challenges today. Sometimes I place ads online that don’t work, sometimes no-one answers their phone during the day so I don’t get to speak to prospects, and the list goes on. But one of the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that if I Count My Wins, at the end of the day I’ll feel great and more prepared to take on the next day.
So how do you put this into action? Well, here’s the deal. At the end of every day, you want to feel successful. If you feel successful, you’ll want to continue creating more success the following day. If you feel unsuccessful, you might not even want to get out of bed the next day – trust me, I’ve been there!
To feel successful, you need to count every single win, no matter how insignificant they seem, each and every day starting right from when you get up. When I began doing this I thought I needed to only count big wins – like if I made some money or something significant happened. I quickly learned that this was an ineffective strategy because I wasn’t creating big wins everyday.
So back to when you get up first thing in the morning. What is the very first thing you do? You open your eyes, right? Do you see a win in that? You’re probably thinking “how could that be a win?” Well let me ask you this: Would you consider not waking up a win? Of course not! So waking up is the very first win of your day! You’re alive and you have another amazing day to experience with your friends and family – that’s definitely something not to take for granted!
So what other wins could there be? How about turning on your tap in the bathroom to brush your teeth? Did you know that the majority of the world’s population doesn’t have access to running water? So running water is a HUGE win!
I hope you’re getting the idea now. But you’re probably asking how this applies in business. Like I mentioned before, sometimes I call prospects and they don’t answer but I leave a voicemail – that’s something I count as a win! At least I was able to leave a message and I know there’s more of a chance of them calling me back than if I can’t leave a message. Focusing on my own personal development is also a win because I know that if I don’t do it, I won’t feel as empowered in my life or business.
Let me give you a basketball game example. Your team could have lost the entire game and you could feel down about it and completely forget that you made the most amazing shot of your entire life in that one game. Do you think it’s going to be more empowering to focus on a lost game or on that amazing shot that had everyone cheering?
I think you’d be getting the idea of how powerful Counting Your Wins is. Something I do to consistently develop this habit is to using the notepad on my iPhone to write down each win as they happen. At the end of the day I’m able to look at all my wins and feel accomplished and successful because there were more wins than challenges. And to be honest, when I look at that list of wins I forget there even were challenges throughout my day.
So my challenge to you is to keep a daily list of your wins. Do it for a day. Write as many wins as you can and at the end of the day review that list and see how you feel. You’ll be surprised at how accomplished you feel and how much more you’ll want to accomplish.
How To Win At Life Part III – Exiting Out Of The Conversation Of Average is published now. You're not going to want to miss this one. Check it out now by clicking here.
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Alex Ford
Digital Marketing Trainer
Email: [email protected]
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Such a powerful concept!
The first time I heard the concept of celebrating every win I disregarded it. Actually I probably disregarded it for 12 months.
However when I finally decided to start counting all my wins it was like my life had turned around.
I look forward to Part 3
Tell me about it Alex! I was exactly the same. I was like… “pft, how is counting your wins going to help you succeed.” Of course, when I wasn’t having the success I wanted I realised that maybe I should start doing it. That’s when things changed!
Man another deep one…As a believer, I know that every day I wake up healthy, alive and kicking to enjoy another day is a PRESENT one I dont take for granted. I celebrate it by saying a huge Thank You Lord Jehovah! Then I simply announce that as i al alive its definitely gonna be a glorious day and go through what more I am grateful for big and small…Sets up my day. every night I recount what I have achieved and thank The lord….whether i completed my to do list or not…! I always have a ONE list and I say Thank You God. Awesome Post Alex…celebrating every win is a must in Life! It gives our mind a sense of daily achievement, thus attracting ore wins bigger by the day as well 🙂
Jules
Awesome Julie! Great to know that you’re a believe as well. On of my favourite quotes (you’ll know where it’s from) is: “This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!” Now, doesn’t that teach us how to live day in day out?! Whether someone’s a believe or not, they deserve to celebrate each and every day.. it will significantly increase their overall level of happiness and fulfilment.
Thanks for the amazing share Julie! 🙂
Hey Alex, this is a real good one man! I luv the title too – “How to WIN at Life.” We should celebrate each of our accomplishments or milestones achieved. Because all the “little” one’s add up to achieving even bigger or long-term goals. Compound effect brotha! Great content!
Cheers Jeff! And you hit the nail on the head! People are often too caught up with trying to find the big wins when they miss all the small ones, when in reality it’s the small ones that make all the difference – just like you said: compound effect! Love it 🙂
Hi Alex,
This has definately served me well over the last year or so!
I am teaching my kids this at the moment, though in a much simpler form. When they are feeling upset, angry, frustrated etc. I get them to tell me what is the happiest thing they can think of, (usually something they did with Grandma). I then ask why that made them so happy, the answer is usually about her helping them do something themselves and they feel proud.
It’s a great tool for keeping them motivated, interested, confident and supported.
As they get older, they’ll already have the ground work laid, to be able to boost themselves up when needed, just like you talk about.
Wow, that is awesome Virginia! Those are some very powerful questions. I’m going to remember that as my little girl grows up 🙂 I can see how a child would grasp onto this concept so much easier with those questions.
Thanks for sharing!
I like this one Alex. Every day we have to be thankful for the small wins. I woke up today and was like life is good. I’m alive and motivated so what else is left.
Thanks for sharing
That’s awesome Daniel! And when we feel successful because we’re alive and well, then we can go on with life and accomplish EVERYTHING we want 🙂
Great suggestions Alex, Another great “WIN” to add to your list is any time that someone tells you how much something that you’ve done has helped them in some way. You may even want to create a scrapbook or journal of all these things so that when you are having a bad day you can just flip through all your wins and you’ll be ready to take on the next challenge.
Awesome idea Marian! I already compile my daily wins list but I never thought of compiling when someone tells me how I’ve helped them change their lives. I can see how powerful that will be as contribution is one of the biggest human driving forces! Thanks for sharing. Will definitely be taking that on board!
Great post Alex, if we don’t celebrate the small wins, we will never feel like we are moving forward. Thanks for sharing and look forward to part 3
Thanks Diane! That’s absolutely spot on 🙂
Hi Alex, It’s always important to remember to count your wins, no matter how small. I recently lost my mother and it hit home what a privilege it is to wake up each day. My Mum lived a long life but now has no more days to wake up to. She will not see next month or next year either. So every new day that I see is definitely a win and is to be cherished. Cheers, Ron
Wow Ron! Sorry to hear your loss. But yes, difficult times really do bring perspective to us. My wife lost one of her uncles at 40 this year. This really showed us that anything could happen at any time, therefore we need to appreciate every moment of life.
Thanks for sharing such a personal event.
Alex, I love it! I agree that our mindset is so important in everything that we do. “Your attitude determines your altitude.” Being grateful for what we do have and find the good in all circumstances this allows us to stay open for the next opportunity. Thanks for sharing and Play to Win!
Love that saying Rob! Success and happiness is all in the attitude 🙂
Ah yes. Start the day with wins — or things to appreciate as I call them. I love that you keep a notebook on your phone as you go through the day. A list of “happy happenings” as we call them in our household. Funny you mention the tap water — most every morning I think that same thing when I brush my teeth. How fortunate we are to have running water — and how I appreciate that. Love the post Alex.
Love that phrase… “happy happenings.” I’m going to remember that! And yes, when we can appreciate the smallest of things in life, that’s when we experience such happiness and freedom 🙂
Thanks of sharing Carol!
Hi Alex, I try to do a Louise Hay morning meditation, where she gives gratitude for every little thing. It is amazing how it changes the way you look at things if you do it on a regular basis. It is the doing it regularly that makes the difference, so it becomes a habit. Thanks for putting this in a different way.
That’s so AWESOME Louisa! Gratitude really does make a huge difference. It give us more energy, focus and we can perceive things in our life from a higher perspective, which results in a better life and business.
Thanks for your share!
Sometimes we tend to focus on the things we don’t have that we forget how lucky we are to enjoy what we already have. One of the most important things I learned in my personal development journey is that one of the keys to happiness is gratitude.
Just like what you said, the mere fact that you woke up today is already a win. The fact that you get to eat three times a day is a win.
We just have to look closely at what we have and not overlook the little things.
I’m right with you Noel! Being grateful for EVERYTHING we have and for everything that’s to come is the key to happiness – and also the key to wealth. Thanks for sharing 🙂
A good friend is a huge believer in gratitude and counting on the win. I always knew there was a focus to have gratitude, but never considered putting on my iphone notes. Thank you Alex. Another great post.
It’s an awesome idea I learned from my mentor, Dave! At the end of the day you can see all your wins and feel like a winner ready to take on the next day 🙂
Didn’t realize this before but this is a concept that I’ve been applying in the back of my head. Some times even though I haven’t had a good day I’ve tried to see the good things in it.
Putting in this kind of light will allow me to bring the good in any bad day and keep me a more happy being =)
Cheers!
That’s awesome Nathan! I’m glad you got some value from this post.
It’s so important to keep counting your wins. If you count your wins every day, you can achieve anything 🙂
always focus on the things you have and have the mindset of abundance and you will win for sure! thank u!