Small Wins to Keep Motivation Up on Long Projects

Self-motivation and coming to work wanting to do more, even in the face of adversity, is a skill I bring to work quite often. Recently, I've been reflecting on where I learned to do this, and I believe it was during my PhD years. Like many PhD students, I spent years with seemingly little to show for it. Few publications. No real breakthroughs. Just endless experiments, failed attempts, and the occasional glimmer of progress. It wasn't until my fourth year that I finally published the core idea for my PhD thesis. Looking back, I realize something profound about motivation: We often think we need to feel motivated to make progress, but the reality is exactly opposite. As it turns out, motivation isn't what drives achievement – achievement, even tiny wins, drives motivation. During those challenging early years of my PhD, I learned that waiting for motivation was a trap. The key was creating small, achievable goals each day: running one more experiment, debugging one more idea, writing one more section. Each small completion created a tiny spark of accomplishment that fueled the next step. Here's what I wish I'd known from the start: Don't wait for motivation to strike. Start with small, concrete actions. Celebrate the minor wins. Let each step forward, no matter how tiny, fuel your momentum. This same principle now drives my approach to building new ideas for users. I don't look for big ideas (those are way harder to find!). Instead, I look for small ideas, find ways to validate and prove they have merit, then push for more validation, more results, and eventually, perhaps breakthrough. Achievements breed motivation. Success in long-term endeavors – whether a PhD, building a new product, or mastering a new skill – isn't about maintaining constant motivation. It's about building a cycle of small achievements that gradually compound into significant progress! Think about how you can take the small steps to compound into material changes. For more on this philosophy of incremental progress and how it's really an effective way to execute and have significant impact, check out the roofshot manifesto by Luiz André Barroso (RIP): https://lnkd.in/g3Nh7GEf What small wins are you celebrating today?

There is something magical about starting a new year. You get to imagine a new reality. “We are going to launch this amazing new content strategy.” “I don't see any reason we can't grow marketing sourced pipeline 5x this year, we are just getting started” “We are finally going to launch that new social strategy” For the first few weeks of the year, the energy is palpable. Teams are organized, meetings are productive, and execution is on point. It feels like everything is falling into place. But then, February rolls in, and the grind sets in. Deadlines get missed. A few unexpected fires pop up. That exciting new campaign gets bogged down in revisions. And before you know it, all that January momentum starts to fizzle. You know the feeling: that burst of energy at the start of something new, followed by the slow realization that the real work isn’t as glamorous as the planning phase. But the true test of a marketing team’s is in their ability to execute the plan not in their ability to create it. The gritty, monotonous day-to-day grind is where the real change happens. The truth is most marketing teams fail at execution and that's one of the biggest reasons for lack of growth at companies. So how do you keep the excitement going past all your initial planning. Here are 3 ways: 1) Work in shorter cycles – 2-week sprints: Breaking down your projects into 2-week sprints can make tasks feel more manageable and keep momentum high. It’s a lot easier to stay focused and motivated when you’re constantly hitting small milestones and seeing progress. 2)Break down goals into monthly or weekly goals: Large goals can be overwhelming. By breaking them down into monthly or weekly targets, you create a series of attainable steps that guide your progress and keep you on track. This approach provides a clear path forward and helps maintain focus. 3)Celebrate small wins: Don’t wait until the end of a project to celebrate. Acknowledge and reward the small victories along the way. This can boost morale, keep the team motivated, and reinforce the value of consistent effort. So, next time you find yourself enamored with the planning phase, remember at the end of the day, it’s not the plan that matters – it’s the execution. If you need help executing this year - don’t hesitate to reach out.

I used to think only major milestones were worth celebrating at work. But I’ve realized it’s the tiny everyday wins that truly energize me. And taking those moments to sincerely congratulate myself keep my spirits up and allows me to appreciate my efforts. I encourage you to do the same, too. Whenever you complete a task, no matter how small, make time to celebrate. ☑️ Give yourself a pat on the back.  ☑️ Treat yourself to something enjoyable.  ☑️ Share your sense of achievement with those around you. These tiny triumphs matter more than we think. Celebrating small wins boosts our mood, motivates us, and makes us enjoy our work more. And we deserve to acknowledge them with joy and gratitude. So, don’t wait for the big milestones to celebrate. It's the tiny steps forward that eventually take us to somewhere great.

Most early-stage teams feel like they're pushing a boulder up a hill. The pressure to achieve Product Market Fit can be overwhelming. Most days, it feels like you're in a boxing ring, taking hit after hit. A 1000 punches later, and you're still standing. But what keeps a boxer going? The cheering of the crowd. You can create that same energy within your startup with a bit of intention. We implemented something small - a "wins" channel. This channel is a dedicated space for your team to: •⁠  ⁠Give kudos •⁠  ⁠Share small victories •⁠  ⁠Celebrate progress, no matter how tiny Examples: - A customer says, "This is what we're looking for!" Screenshot that and drop it in the wins channel. - Your product team ships a feature that gives you chills? Give them kudos in the wins channel. - A customer raves about your product on LinkedIn? Share a screenshot in the channel. Create your own cheering section right in the middle of your startup battlefield. In the startup world, momentum is everything. Sometimes that momentum comes from recognizing the small wins along the way. It's not just about boosting morale (though it does that too). It's about creating a culture of celebration and recognition. When your team sees the impact they're making, even in small doses, it fuels them to push harder, innovate faster, and stay committed to the mission. Who else has a wins channel?