A few months ago, I was feeling deflated.
“There is no big win,” I said to my husband. “It’s not coming.”
My husband nodded in agreement. Despite our collective pragmatism about life in general, my husband and I are dreamers. We have big grand goals for our lives, of writing big books and screenplays, of traveling around the globe, of having a media empire that sustains us through retirement.
For years, we’ve been talking about needing a big win, an event that would kickstart the process of getting there. But despite a few hopeful scenarios, most of our big wins, to this date, have not materialized in any of the ways that we’ve hoped. We got “big wins” in the form of six-figure jobs—twice—and we walked away from them; I almost got a six-figure book deal, but it didn’t work out eventually, and so on.
“You’re right, there isn’t a big win,” Sam said with his characteristic straightforwardness. “But as we have discovered time and again, there are many, many small wins and they add up.”
There is so much truth in those words and if you take them to heart as I did, so much power.
Because if you’re not waiting for that big win to come to you, to find you and shake you out of your stupor, you instead start taking control and creating the small wins for yourself that, over time, collectively come together to bring you to the same results.
Over the last three years, we’ve taken three steps forward and two steps back almost on an ongoing basis. But you know what? Three steps forward and two steps back still makes one step forward.
Those steps forward add up.
In his book The Compound Effect Darren Rowse, the founder and publisher of Success magazine, explains that just like your money compounds when invested correctly, the results of your efforts compound as well. If you exercise one day here, two days there, it makes no difference to your life. But if you commit to walking a mile a day, over time, the results of that not only add up but they compound. They build on themselves. Not only does your effort decrease as a result of the daily action, but the results of your efforts consistently increase.
I like to talk about this aspect of compounding repeatedly because people, especially writers, do not understand, do not internalize, how powerful this message is.
Today is the last day of the year. Tomorrow, a new year will begin. Regardless of what you do or don’t do, next year, at this very moment, you will be a year older. You may still be in the same financial position, still working for the same editors, still writing the same novel you started two years ago.
Or not.
You could decide to be the person who writes 36,500 words this year (that’s about 100 a day) or sends out 100 pitches (two a week). One of those pitches might lead to a new relationship with an editor, which might lead to a column. The result compounds.
You can change who you will be a year from now. In order to achieve that, however, you will have to decide to change yourself first.
Small steps every single day can lead to big results in a year. You can’t do everything, but you can do some things.
What are those things that you will commit to this year?
What small steps will you take every day in 2016 that will make you a different person in 2017?
Commit to it. Hold yourself to it. Your life is yours. Make sure it’s one that’s filled with the things you want rather than the ones you don’t.
Happy New Year, everyone! Thank you so much for all your support, your wonderful emails, and for sharing your stories with me in the last few months. I’ve been encouraged, inspired, and moved by all of them.
My wish for you is that 2016 is everything you desire and more.
Get out there and make it happen!