Go Team 2023! Revisit Past Victories

If you are old enough to be reading this, you are standing atop a stack of past victories.

I know, our brains like to remind us of the times things didn’t go so well but we can also consciously choose to remind ourselves of the times that everything worked out just fine.

You have sailed through some things and struggled with others but, more often than not, you have been victorious.

The victories may have been small, they may have been enormous or they may have been anywhere in between, but they are all right there, tucked away in your mind, waiting for you to recall them.

So, today, let’s do that.

Let’s revisit our victories of all sizes.

And literally anything counts.

If it is hard for you to get out of bed but you somehow made yourself do it? That’s a victory!

If getting out of bed wasn’t in the cards today but you texted a friend to commiserate? That’s a victory!

If you were running and kind of wanted to cut things short but you forged ahead a little more? Victory!

Last month, when you had to make those phone calls for work and it took you three days to work up the nerve but you did it? Victory!

When you finally decided to tackle the clutter in your basement and it took you weeks to get rid of it bit by bit, but you persevered? That’s a victory!

When you went to the job interview. When you stood up to that jerk. When you stepped away from the argument. When you studied for the exam. Victory. Victory. Victory. Victory.

It doesn’t matter how long ago these victories were, they still belong to you and the efforts you put into them still matter.

At this point, you might be asking yourself ‘Why is Christine bringing up all of these unrelated things? What does this have to do with the habit I am trying to build?’

Well, Team, like we have said lots of times – habit-building is hard work. It takes perseverance, it takes repeated actions, it takes a willingness to endure the stress of challenging ourselves, it takes a lot of plan-adjusting, a lot of restarting, a lot of picking ourselves up and dusting ourselves off and diving back in.

And I want you to remember that you have done this before. You have all of those skills and resources and that you applied them in a variety of contexts and were victorious.

By revisiting those past victories, you can see that there have been many, many times when things were challenging but that you were able to pull together the energy, the strength, the persistence, to get the thing done.

Sure, you may be facing different challenges this time, and you may need different help or different resources but you already have the key skills you need for habit-building and you can call on them again.

This isn’t about willpower or any kind of ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ approach, this is about reminding yourself that victory is possible. And that you know it is possible because you have done it many times before.

So, bask in those past victories. Remind yourself how you felt in the process and how you felt when you were done.

Use some of that energy to help carry yourself forward through any challenges you are facing on the way to the victory ahead.

Oh, and please be kind to yourself in the process.

Here’s a very goofy looking gold star to celebrate your efforts, past and present: