Your best year yet—Track your wins if you want to win (Pt. 5 of 6)
Intro & Overview
We’re back with part 5 of this 6-part series around the theme of “Your ‘23 Plan of Attack—A Year of Explosive Growth”
This will be an ongoing theme building off itself each week as I progress into the ‘23 Q1 Boot Camp which opens for enrollment Wednesday, Jan. 4th, 9 AM CT.
This session will take place Saturday, Jan. 14th through Friday, Feb. 3rd.
This 3-week group coaching workshop is all about getting clear on WHAT you want, WHY you want it, and HOW you'll make it happen.
In the meantime, soak up all the face-melting value leading up to the first Boot Camp of the New year
Note: Click the image to watch the replay. Continue below to read the blog.
Click to watch the Instagram Live Training Replay
If You Want to Win—Track Your Wins
Back in February 2017, I published episode 25 of the podcast called “Dealing with Creative Funks & Feeling Invisible.”
I had been recovering from a nose and throat surgery that had me out of commission for going on 3 weeks.
But really, I had been in an off-season for about 3 months where I was:
In my head doubting my art and podcast.
Dealing with an Iowa wintery cold, grey mix of seasonal depression.
Feeling physically gross and out of shape.
It was a cocktail recipe for disaster as I slipped into a major creative funk.
I was highly emotional during this stretch which was around the time people started to first share their top 9 biggest posts on Instagram.
Comparing my perceived lack of success compared to others on social media only continued to dig me a hole.
(More on separating emotions from your creative biz pursuits in Part 6 of this series next week.)
I don’t even know where I got this idea from, but I got fed up with feeling like shit…
And I simply started to track my wins in a little app called Wunderlist at the time.
I tracked everything, big and small as it made me feel less shitty as I became more objective within my side hustle.
Fast forward to today, this is something I still do, and actually push my students to track theirs W’s as well.
I honestly feel that tracking my Wins has been a huge catalyst for leveling up my mind and creative grind year after year.
I also believe that by you creating a system for tracking your own Wins could set you up for your biggest year yet.
Here are the top reasons and benefits I’ve found for hoarding your W’s.
Top Reasons to Track Wins
1. Appreciate Your Progress
Slow progress is progress—this is an important mindset to embrace regardless if you’re just starting off or have been in the game for a hot minute.
While most of us continue to obsess over the next mountain to climb…
Tracking your wins forces you to acknowledge when things go right.
It places you within the moment, even for a split second before you set your sights on the next target.
2. Silence the Inner Critic
I don’t know about you, but toward the end of the year, my inner critic starts to run rampant.
I used to fall victim to feeling like a worthless turd who wasn’t doing enough when looking at everyone else’s “end-of-year highlight reels.”
Tracking my wins throughout the year gave me something to look back on and be proud of.
I could actually see measurable growth that aligned with my targets and SMART goals.
Doing so keeps me on track on a focused path forward vs. negatively noodling on what I didn’t accomplish.
3. Empower the voice of reason
Not only do you silence the inner critic, but you also nurture that other voice deep inside you that is typically quieter and needs to be juiced up.
Every time you track a W, you empower that positive voice a little more.
You start to become more kind to your mind which in turn, rewires your mood, attitude, and approach to your creative pursuits.
4. Build Confidence & Momentum
Each win you track is a seed being planted.
Over time, those wins compound resulting in a thread of continued scaling progress.
Every tracked victory boosts your confidence a smidgen more as you cement the belief in your mind that “It’s possible for you.”
As your confidence takes flight, you’re also building a track record of success.
Which, as a byproduct, creates a wave of momentum into the next season you’re stepping into.
One day, one of the seeds you tracked will net a killer opportunity where you can reap the reward of your hard labor.
5. Bounce Back Quickly
When you do slip into your next funk (these are unavoidable in my opinion)...
You’ll be able to bounce back more quickly because you have a catalog of cool and positive shit you’ve accomplished to look back on.
This is an entire gas station's worth of fuel to snap you out of it and get back on the road.
Side Note: The funks we navigate are necessary potholes on the road.
Each time we bounce back, it allows us to appreciate the times when we’re in the zone and things are clicking…
You can’t appreciate the sunny days without the shitty storms along the way.
Looking back on a stack of wins can get you back on track.
What Types of Wins to Track
Alright, tracking wins is important and all…
But what type of wins should you track?
This is arbitrary and unique to you as we’re all wired differently.
I’d say track anything that makes your day, fires you up, and serves as fuel for when the inner critic is talking shit.
Here are 3 types of wins I track:
1. Personal Life + Family Wins
I like to track fitness-based goals like personal records in weight training or diet-based wins like weight-cutting goals + progress photos.
I also track financial goals like when we paid off the last of our consumer debt back in September 2020.
Some recent family examples would be:
The announcement of baby #3 arriving in early March 2023.
My son’s first preschool recital.
My daughter starting potty training (and crushing it).
2. Coaching + Art Biz Wins
Coaching-wise, I track things like:
A big sales month.
A successful beginning and end to a program.
New services and offerings that were successful.
Art-wise, I track things like:
Celebrating a new collector.
New all-time high sales for an art drop.
Big features, mentions, press, gallery exhibits, etc.
Biz-wise, I track things like:
Podcast and blog interviews I’ve been a part of.
Crossing new milestones like 5k followers on Twitter, etc.
Keynotes, conferences, and other cool opportunities.
3. Student Wins
This is something new I started in 2023 as I make a note of my students when they’ve crushed a big win.
Often it could be a killer client, an all-time high sale of their work, a well-known collector, a successful launch, taking the full-time leap, etc.
In fact, it sparked the idea to create an ongoing Student Spotlight Wins Series to feature students making moves in the world.
It’s really cool to look back on these and even share these wins with the student when they enter a creative funk.
How to Track Wins
There’s really no right or wrong way, I can only tell you what I prefer and what works for me.
Personally, I prefer convenience, flexibility, and ease of use for hoarding victories.
I switched my process to Notion back in 2020 and have a new Page each year to track wins.
I love Notion as it’s easy to use and I can conveniently access the app on any device (mobile, iPad, desktop, and even browser) whenever I want.
It’s also an all-in-one source for me to organize much of my day-to-day business in one place:
Idea collection/generation.
Editorial calendar and checklists.
Coaching program notes, dates, and deliverables.
Outlines and descriptions.
Processes and systems for my VA.
And so much more.
The free version of Notion is a powerful tool and I barely leverage its full potential.
Bonus: Motivation Tracker
Last but not least, I have a Motivation Tracker alongside my Wins.
In my inbox, I have a Motivation Folder.
In Notion, I have a Motivation Page.
Basically, it’s a way for me to document some really nice things people have said to me over the years.
When I’m feeling really crappy or dealing with a hater, I visit this folder to remember that I’m making an impact by being me.
Your Best Year Yet
It's easy to fall victim to comparison this time of the year as everyone shares their highlight reels.
Our inner critic is working overtime trying to convince us we're not doing enough.
Why not give yourself every advantage to fight back?
Tracking Wins has been a game changer for me and so many students.
I truly believe tracking your Wins going into 2023 will set you up to have your most successful year yet.
At the same time, if you’re struggling to make a plan of attack going into the New Year so you can even begin stacking wins…
Just know you’re not alone and I’d love to show you how to get started.
Because the goal should be at the end of each year and look back on measurable growth.
Want to work together? 🤝
Consider learning more below about how to join an upcoming 3-Week Boot Camp. 👇🏻
LET’S WORK TOGETHER 🤝
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