The Life-Changing Magic of Tiny Victories

To motivate yourself to do great work and reinforce optimism in your life, take a step forward every single day.

Phil Rosen

Feb 07, 2022

Issue #3

February 7, 2022

Reading time:

5 mins

Read online

Phil Rosen

Rise and shine, readers. Welcome to Tip Jar.

Some good news — I've found a way for everyone to have a permanent, limitless source of motivation.

Better news — to learn what it is, all you have to do is scroll down.

Let's get into it.

The life-changing magic of tiny victories

Think about your mood over the last few days.

If you went to bed feeling optimistic or fulfilled, there’s a strong chance you accomplished something that day.

If you hit the hay feeling less upbeat, you likely encountered a setback on something you'd been working on.

This connection may seem obvious, but by acknowledging it, we can learn how to reverse-engineer happiness and motivation.

An analysis in the Harvard Business Review of 12,000 workers' diaries revealed that nothing contributed more to a positive outlook than making progress on something.

If someone is happy by the end of the day, “it’s a good bet he or she achieved something, however small,” wrote the authors.

This is the progress principle.

Something as small as making your bed or ironing your shirt before leaving the house could have a disproportionate impact on your mood and productivity.

The more frequently you experience a sense of progress, even from something small, the more likely you are to be motivated and productive long-term. You have more control over your will-power and mood than you may think.

It also suggests that employers can have more effective, happier staff so long as they make sure to give employees achievable goals on a daily basis. Employers can tap into the progress principle to nourish employees to do better work.

The same goes for teachers and students, parents and kids, and coaches and athletes.

You can leverage this idea from the opposite side too. If you work to minimize things that will cause a setback, you’ll be happier and more motivated.

One warning: Tiny setbacks — like tiny victories — can disproportionately weigh on your mood, motivation, and productivity.

The key is to not only define how you can make progress, but define exactly what could steer you off-course. Set clear, achievable goals to help yourself (or others) take a step forward.

Motivation, then, doesn’t happen before you take action. It happens as a consequence of an action taken in the right direction.

The authors of the study concluded that, on days people made progress, they were more intrinsically motivated and interested in the work they were doing.

Progress means more motivation, and motivation leads to more progress.

Pick a task you know you can get ahead on. Notch a small victory. Find out what you can make progress in, and do it often. Then do it again.

If you tested the progress principle, I'd put good money on a mood boost.

To motivate yourself to do great work, take a step forward everyday.

See you next Monday.

— Phil

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