Winning and Losing is like peanut butter and jelly. You need both to be completely satisfied, or so I used to think. Then I started working professionally and realized there is certainly some gray in the world and this ambiguity applied to my thinking as well.
With a demanding operations and engineering career and working in a manufacturing environment, I found it difficult to maintain a workout regimen. This is when I started tracking my Wins by placing a “W” on the board in my cubicle as an outward example of my accomplishment. My entire focus was on winning. I didn’t need to worry about losing, that took care of itself. On the days when I made it to the gym, before or after my shift started, I put a W on the board and my goal was to have as many W’s on the board as possible.
Fast forward 15 years and I still use that same thought process to help me achieve my fitness, financial, business, and personal goals. The thought process is the same: track the W’s. In doing so, my time and attention are focused on what I want to happen and the type of behavior I want to demonstrate. On days when I do well, I get rewarded for my W, which I can see and feel good about, and on the days when life and fatigue get the best of me, I still feel good because I am living.
I found the win-lose mentality didn’t work for me to keep me motivated. It demotivated me as soon as the “L” started showing up. The losses. It was harder to restart when I focused on the Wins as well as on the Losses. By simply removing the L’s and only tracking the W’s, I was able to put my energy where I needed it to be which allowed my momentum to build at a steady consistent pace.
Some weeks there may be 4 W’s on the board, which is my current fitness goal, and some weeks, 3 or even two W’s show up for me as life happens. However, it is on the days when there is no W that I feel the most empowered to start again to track my W’s and see my progress.
Perhaps you are looking for a new way to track your wins and successes without the fear or frustration of losses that lurks in the background. Get your calendar out and start tracking your W’s and see how it will quickly change your perspective as you string your WINS together for your success.