Day 7 of 30 Days of Adventure

👁 INTENTION

Today, let's embrace and celebrate our small wins so that we can amplify our motivation, and propel ourselves toward the realization of our larger dreams.

💡 INSPIRATION

The magic lies in the small victories—those tiny accomplishments that pass quietly, often without applause. Why? Because small wins create a cascade of positive effects that pave the path for larger achievements. Today's inspiration emanates from the book “The Power of Small Wins” by Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, highlighting the immense transformative power of small victories. Curious about how small wins can change the entire course of your life?

Today's Key Takeaways

• 📌 Recognize and honor each small win
• 🌈 Create a ritual of celebration
• 🌟 Maintain this practice to create a chain reaction of motivation and success

💬 ADVENTUROUS WISDOM

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

— Robert Collier
an American self-help author who has examined thousands of different religious texts to write a comprehensive guide on faith and belief.

🔭 LAWS OF NATURE

We feel the sting of criticism more powerfully than we feel the joy of praise.

Studies show the negative effect of setbacks is often two to three times stronger than the positive effect of progress. This, in part, is because we are more likely to focus on losses rather than gains. It is the “bad things” that grab our attention, stick to our memories, and, in many cases, influence the decisions that we make. Psychologists refer to this as our negativity bias. Researchers attribute this to evolution, as our ancestors who were more fixated on their failures (and avoiding them in the future) were more likely to survive.

It's easy to dismiss small wins when we're facing setbacks.

Even the smallest setbacks and negative events can bring us down if we allow our energy to linger on them. This evolutionary survival-based bias toward the negative can leads us to pay much more attention to the bad things that happen, making them seem much more important than they really are. This tendency to overemphasize the negative can have an impact on the choices we make and the risks that we are willing to take.

Alas, we are powerful beings that can redirect our negativity bias towards a positive outcome!

🍪 TRAIL SNACK

So how can we overcome our hardwired fixation on failure and cultivate more joyous motivation?

To rewire our primitive fear-based survival brain, we can practice noticing negative thoughts as they arise and choose to refocus our awareness on the positives: the insights, the silver linings, and the small wins! When we notice small wins and make a point to celebrate them, 🙌 HURRAY 🎉, we increase motivation, boost performance, and improve the ability to acquire and retain new skills. This is not to dismiss negative thoughts & emotions. Rather, it is to merge with them in ways that uplift and inspire our next best baby step.

Celebrating reinforces small changes and paves the way for big successes.

Celebrating creates a memory imprint in the mind that encourages more of that inspired action. Over time, we learn to associate our new course of actions with positive emotions. Making a point to celebrate our small wins may feel like work at first, especially when the mind wants to fixate on the negatives. But eventually, it will become second nature and we'll naturally crave more inspired action and celebration.

📿 LET'S REFLECT

By noticing how we already celebrate, we can more easily incorporate celebratory repatterning along our journey.

FOR EXAMPLE:

When you toss a piece of trash into a garbage bin, how do you naturally celebrate?

When you score a goal, how do you feel and how do you react?

How have you enjoyed rewarding yourself in the past?

How can you reward yourself right now for showing up for yourSelf with today's intentional session?

Let's not underestimate the power of simple “nice work!” and pat on the back.

😅 🙌

📿 TRAIL MANTRA

Small wins, big triumphs.

This mantra reminds us that it's the little things, the small wins, that culminate in major successes. As you go about your day, use this mantra to acknowledge and celebrate each little victory.

🧘 MINDFUL MOMENT

Close your eyes. Imagine you're holding a jar containing glowing orbs, each one a small win. See how the light intensifies as you acknowledge each orb. Feel the joy seep into your very being, aligning you with the flow of life's many gifts.

✍🏼 JOURNAL PROMPT

Let's take two minutes to acknowledge any progress (no matter how small) we've made on our adventure.

📝

Where can you recognize more small achievements to further motivate your adventurous journey? 

How can you incorporate more of the ways you already naturally celebrate?

How can you immediately celebrate your small success as you adventure onwards towards your inspired dreams?

🚀 INSPIRED ACTION

Today, let's commit to celebrating the small wins!

• Let's trust in the power of reprogramming the mind to support the yearnings of our awakening hearts.
• Let's celebrate more of the necessary, and sometimes grueling, baby steps that might otherwise go unacknowledged. 
• Let's honor this sacred journey of life by celebrating ourselves in ways that bring us joy, elation, and motivation.

📣 AFFIRMATION

I am aware of my thoughts and emotions.
I do not let negativity get the best of me.
I merge with what is and respond in kind.
I focus my energy in ways that nourish me.
I recognize and celebrate inspired actions.
I am worthy of praise and celebration.

🙌 KUDOS

Congratulations on completing today's session! You've taken steps to honor your journey and your growth.

Keep the energy of celebration alive and be sure to join us again tomorrow as we kick off Week 2 of our Adventure Journey by exploring the conversational nature of reality.

💬 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

What's a small win that you're excited to share with us today?

We'd love to hear from you in the comments!