One Word to Transform Them All [#17]
One WIN a day, gets you on the way
Dear Reader,
How exhilarating is it to win? And yet, how hard is it to keep up at it?
My mother always told me that “the more you do, the more you want to do. The less you do, the less you want to do”. As I reflect on this, I can’t help but have to admit and agree that she was right (and unless my father betrays me and translates that to her, she doesn’t even have to know about it).
Invariably, if you look back in your life you will see phases, where you were doing a lot and had ever-increasing amounts of energy to do even more. And when you were down? Even half of what you used to do at your peak felt like an insurmountable workload you simply couldn’t comprehend how you ever managed to do as much.
It turns out, it’s not just interest that compounds. Our energy and actions do too.
But I know first-hand how hard it is to get started. I’ve often helped people who are in that slog, of not doing much and struggling to walk the first few steps. And while I have tried umpteen productivity systems, I always go back to the simplest of systems.
Truth is, my own system would have productivity gurus call me a heretic, given its absurd straightforwardness. I can’t explore the whole in this post, but let me give you the cornerstone of it all.
The Key is to focus on the WIN
And here, WIN stands for What’s Impactful Next. The WIN is a daily action you define for yourself, preferably the night before, that can be done on that one day (taking schedule into account) and is impactful. If you achieve your WIN, you can consider the day a success and everything on top of that is a bonus.
Yes, sometimes the WIN will be “book dentist appointment” (because who never puts it off?), but most days, it prompts you to think about how you can move the needle, even if minimally, every single day. And before you know it, it snowballs, it compounds, and you took the express lane to success.
One WIN a day, gets you on the way.
And soon enough, the virtuous cycle kicks in: the more you do, the more you achieve, and the more you achieve, the more energised you feel to do more. The loop strengthens day after day.
Give it a try. Tonight, ask yourself what will tomorrow’s What’s Impactful Next (WIN) be, and get at it first thing tomorrow.
If productivity is about doing more with less effort, this is the single biggest low-effort high-impact tool in my productivity arsenal. I’d love to hear how you get on.