That’s building your success list and counting each victory, no matter how great or how small. Another example might be with exercise. That is one that I’m trying to work up to again, because I years ago before injury I used to workout five to six days a week for 45 minutes to an hour. I am trying to work up to three days a week consistently with either cardio or resistance training. So I counted my success recently. I was talking on another webinar that I completed two workouts in one week. I was consistent. I counted the previous week where I got three. The past week was much busier than the current week. There was also the issue of injury, but I again celebrated the success that I worked out yesterday, even though I was sore. Even though I may not have gone a hundred percent, I showed up and that adds to my success list for being able to work out consistently three days a week. I did resistance training. Woohoo! Yes. I did it. I did it. That’s how you do your success list and keeping track of your successes. I know some people get triggered by tracking whether it’s for food or for exercise. Think about it as your memory book for what you’ve accomplished, not just to say, oh, I still got X to do, Y theto do and I’m getting overwhelmed. It’s to say, “I did this today”.

I did this yesterday and if I’m being consistent; I’m going to have success. I’m building my success list even when I feel like I want to puke. I’m building my confidence in my ability to execute and to execute well.  Each time I execute, I am perfecting my technique, my approach, my confidence, and my skills as a speaker. That’s the way that you should think about it. Do not beat yourself up because you used to run a 5k in 15 minutes or less. You are not in competition with the person you were yesterday.

The new goal is the person you are becoming and trying to do 10% better every day, every week, and every month. When you’re having a rough day, you can review your successes. You should Say, “Oh well, I’m still getting closer to my goal. For example, with eating properly, you may have a goal to cut so many calories, or you may have a goal to cut sweets and junk food. If you fell off the wagon and went through the drive-through, you stop and say I’m getting better every

 day. What am I going to do tomorrow to get back on track to my goal? What am I going to do for the rest of today? If you made that bad choice in the afternoon think to yourself, ” I’m going to course correct. I’m going to eat healthy for the rest of the day. I’m going to make sure I’m consistent with my exercise.” This is how you make the success list work for you. This is how you motivate yourself to improve, to make better choices, to be consistent in hitting the things you need to hit in order to reach your goal.

Success lists work the same for everyone: not just for me, not just for other people in college, not just for people who are doctors and lawyers, it works for everyone, not just for Olympians. Everyone can benefit from it. So start to break down your ultimate goal into manageable steps. Once you break it down into those manageable short-term goals, you will use this as your mile markers for your future successes on your success list. You may ask yourself, what do I need to do to get a promotion, to get a scholarship, to become a model or writer. What needs to happen? Your short-term goals will lead to your ultimate goal. Make them measurable. Make them attainable. Build your success list!