The Power of Small Wins

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“One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.” – Iris Murdoch

I learned this reflective practice from my meditation teacher, Deirdre: before stepping out of a space at the end of the day (the office, a studio, the kitchen), pause for a moment to think about what you did, who you saw, any breakthroughs (or breakdowns, for that matter) you had. It’s a chance to absorb the day before you turn out the lights and leave.

I’m not very consistent in remembering to do this practice. But when I do, I find that it helps me to savor the day as well as to honor the small steps that mark progress. It counterbalances my inclination to be focused on the next thing and helps to answer a question that I struggle with: when should we celebrate progress—only at the finish line, or all along the way?

In this episode of The Life of Try, I explore the power of small wins, tiny habits, and incremental progress. Drawing from a personal story about preparing my home for an Airbnb experiment during the World Cup in Seattle, I reflect on what it means to keep going when growth is messy, nonlinear, and full of setbacks.

I offer some insights from Director of Stanford’s Behavior Design Lab, BJ Fogg, PhD, plus the long-term philosophy of Toyota’s Kaizen culture, where small daily improvements add up over time, and the practical courage found in the checklist mindset associated with Captain Sullenberger.

This episode is about personal growth, habit formation, celebrating small victories, and learning to recognize that progress doesn’t have to be dramatic to matter.

Here are some takeaways:

  • Why celebrating small wins can help you stay motivated even when progress feels slow or messy
  • How BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits approach shows that tiny celebrations can reinforce lasting behavior change
  • What Toyota’s Kaizen philosophy teaches about the long-term power of small, consistent improvements
  • How checklists and small-step courage can help you keep going when you feel overwhelmed or stuck
  • Why growth often looks nonlinear, and how to recognize progress before the final result arrives
  • How honoring effort along the way can help you build resilience, confidence, and momentum

If you’ve ever felt stuck, overlooked your own progress, or wondered whether the little steps count, this episode will remind you that they do. Small wins matter. Tiny steps matter. And trying counts, even before the big outcome arrives.

Here are some other ways you can listen and watch this episode:

Near Death, Deep Faith, New Life | Liza Anderson’s Extraordinary Story – The Life of Try: Personal growth, one try at a time.

In this episode of The Life of Try, Wynne Leon talks with Liza Anderson, author of The Crossing: My Near Death Experience with Jesus, about surviving a sudden medical crisis, spendingweeks in an induced coma, and returning with a deeper sense of faith, presence, and purpose. Liza shares her near-death experience, her encounter with Jesus, and what recovery taught her about resilience, prayer, and living in the present moment.In this episode, you'll learn: → You don’t have to control the outcome to choose the next step. → Some of life’s deepest lessons come through suffering, but they can reshape how we live every ordinary day. → Recovery is not only physical—it’s emotional, spiritual, and relational too. → Trying can mean returning to life one small moment at a time. → Being fully present may matter more than predicting or controlling what comes next. → Sometimes courage looks less like certainty and more like choosing life again and again. → The adventure of life may be less about outcomes and more about how we show up to the moment we’re in.If you’ve ever wondered how to stay grounded when everything around you is swirling, this conversation will stay with you.🔔 Subscribe for more:Subscribe to The Life of Try for more conversations on:personal growth, creativity, reinvention, resilience, writing, and mindset.📌 Subscribe & Stay Updated!ABOUT MEHi, I’m Wynne Leon — host of The Life of Try, a personal growth and self-improvement podcast exploring resilience, reinvention, uncertainty, and the courage to keep trying.Through thoughtful interviews, reflective conversations, and real-life stories, I share insights to help you navigate change, get unstuck, and move forward with more intention.🌍 Website: https://wynneleon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎥 Watch Next➡️ Letting Go Of Outcomes: The Mindset That Keeps You Moving➡️ How to Overcome Burnout and Build an Upward Spiral of Growth, Fun, Resilience and Renewal➡️ 47-From Stuck to Momentum: Thomas Edison's Method for ProgressLinks for this Episode:The Crossing: My Near-Death Journey with Jesus on Amazon
  1. Near Death, Deep Faith, New Life | Liza Anderson’s Extraordinary Story
  2. Encouraging Effort, Not Outcome: The Secret to Helping People Keep Trying
  3. How to Celebrate the Try
  4. How to Reclaim Fun in Adult Life; Michael Rucker, PhD on Joy, Burnout, and The Fun Habit
  5. Reinvention, Resilience and The Courage to Try| Lindsey Goldstein on Gap Year

Links for this episode:

Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, PhD on Amazon

The Tiny Habits Toolkit from BJ Fogg, PhD

How I recovered from a bout of anxiety-induced paralysis by Dan Harris

Other Episodes you Might Enjoy:

➡️⁠ Letting Go Of Outcomes: The Mindset That Keeps You Moving⁠

➡️ 4⁠8: How to Get Unstuck: Michael Yang on Saying Yes, Resilience and Coming Alive⁠

➡️ ⁠How to Reclaim Fun in Adult Life | Mike Rucker, PhD, on Joy, Burnout and the Fun Habit⁠

(featured photo from Pexels)

47 thoughts on “The Power of Small Wins”

  5. There are times where it is necessary to celebrate the small wins; otherwise, we can get discouraged (as I am with this project I am working on that is simply not fun).

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  9. Small wins are the best! When we were very ill, we kept a “Some Lines a Day” journal, where we picked one good thing, in the midst of all the hard things, to celebrate each day… as simple as the bird singing outside or a text from a friend. I swear it’s what kept us going. Keep celebrating those small wins!

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  12. Congratulations on completing the Airbnb listing challenge! LOL!

    I learned about the power of celebrating small wins when I was teaching myself to like myself. I practiced congratulating myself with a “Great job!” of “You did it!” for every small thing I did. I knew I needed to rewire my brain to see myself positively, so part of that was taking notice of all the small wins, even “Hey, you went to work with a smile today when you felt crappy!”

    It may sound corny to some people, but the proof is in doing it, I saw the shift in how I thought of myself. Whereas previously I minimized the positive things I did in favor of noticing every mistake, I was practicing suspending judgement of myself and saying nice things. I have to be honest, at first it felt fake because I wasn’t used to people speaking positively to me, but slowly with time my brain was rewiring as I started to see all the little things I was doing right throughout my day.

    Celebrating the small things is something I highly recommend to everyone, and particularly to those who struggle with negative self-talk. It’s a small tool, but very powerful in the long run.

    Loved this episode of your poscast!

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  13. Loved this episode Wynne. You have a fantastic knack for reaching people in these “Trying” situations and encouraging us on through them. Thank you so much!! 💕

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  14. Love this, Wynne. It’s taken me a long time to figure out consistency wins, not big splashy efforts giving short term endorphin boosts. “The victory is staying functional”…not dramatic…one step at a time.”
    And woohoo to the success – already – with the AirBnb adventure! xo! 💝

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  16. It’s critical that we find joy in the process, not just the result. I think of any endeavor that I’ve had to work hard at and realize there is a direct correlation to my satisfaction. After all, if anybody can accomplish a goal, then it’s much harder to take pride in it. Yet knowing we have the determination and fortitude to reach the finish line makes us feel good about ourselves and reinforces the notion that we’ll be okay the next time we face a difficult challenge.

    I really like the idea of thinking about those small successes before switching environments.

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  18. love this, wynne. i’m all about baby steps. when i taught the pre-k kids, when someone had a bad day, and were sad or mad, i would ask them to tell me something that was a challenge on this day, and then what made them smile, one small thing.

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  19. Ooo, I like that you have already implemented information just gleaned from Mike and his book; to turn the chore into a fun for the family project, Wynne. You offer so much wisdom in just a few minutes too! Fogg’s idea about reinforcing the behavior with small wins because it helps the habit take root makes so much sense. And really, why can’t we celebrate small wins? They can be the building blocks of boosted joy and pride; very helpful tools to reach the end. Congrats on your bookings!

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  22. Celebrate every small step of the way – even if all we’re doing is keeping going. I love this message, Wynne – and full disclosure, I got to this part of the podcast as I was walking up a long flight of stairs wishing I took the escalator instead. 🤣

    Behaviour science and design is fascinating. Toyota looks at it from an employee culture perspective, you and I look at it from a parenting perspective. But the commonalities are wise – celebrate the successes and the try, the small wins are incredibly motivating, and giving others – like our kids – an opportunity to be part of the process – can be incredibly fruitful.

    Congrats on your 2 bookings. Here’s to many more and to your well earned summer vacations!

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  25. I so agree with this. I don’t wait until a book is completed to celebrate. I celebrate after writing one chapter or sometimes after writing one page!! It’s all about baby steps and celebrating after each one. That’s how we learn to walk!

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  26. I also want to add another benefit of thinking about your day. We all rush from one thing to another – and days pass and you hardly know where you have been or what you have done because it’s moving to the next thing, next thing, next thing etc… Stopping and taking a breath and thinking about your day can help you see the wins (Wynnes 😉) and also help reflect on how you spent your time – XOV

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