FINDING THOSE MINI-WINS

Get out your cakes & candles because we’re celebrating the small stuff today!

This past weekend, I raced the open 800 for the first time all season. As runners tend to do, I had some big goals going in — how could I set myself up well for conference? For future 800s? And . . . those goals didn’t necessarily happen.

In fact, my time on Saturday was almost 2 seconds slower than my high school PR.

Bad, right?

Not quite! Because this lackluster 800 was actually a huge win. Up until this year, I’ve struggled to approach my high school times in college, especially in the 800 meters. It’s the only race I haven’t PRed in in four years. In fact, my previous collegiate best was from freshman year, at 2:18 (4 seconds off what I ran as a junior in high school!).

Celebrating fast times after our season-opening 1k.

But getting within 2 seconds of that time— even when I really wanted to finally break my PR — was huge; it’s a baby step on the way to the big goals.

It was progress.

And recognizing small wins like this can add up on our way towards the big goals, too. According to online life coach platform Hundred Life Design, “Simply recording your progress, no matter how small, can enhance your self-confidence and boost your motivation, paving the way toward your next mini-win— and your ultimate long-term success.”

So when I walked off the track on Saturday, I wasn’t in tears or cursing my time, which I may have done in the past. Instead, I was smiling and excited about the mini-win, ready to continue putting in the work and celebrating with my teammates.

And that’s my advice to you today: Celebrate your progress, even when you don’t want to. Grab some cake, some cookies, ice creams, balloons, and streamers and tell yourself good job.

Because even though it doesn’t seem like much, whatever you just accomplished was a step in the right direction. And enough of those will add up to those big goals you’re reaching for.

Who knows, maybe at some point this season or next, I’ll finally break free from my high school PR. Maybe I never will. But until then, I’m going to keep celebrating these baby steps.

Cake anyone?