The Joy of Tiny Steps
Why celebrating the smallest victories might be your secret weapon
The woman at the gym doesn't look happy.
She's been showing up for three weeks. Lifting weights. Running on the treadmill. Eating better.
And today, she stepped on the scale to find she's lost exactly one pound.
One single pound after all that work.
So she quits.
Meanwhile, across town, another woman has also lost one pound in three weeks. But she's smiling. She marks it in her journal with a little star. Tomorrow, she'll be back at the gym.
Same result. Different story.
Here's what the second woman understands: Progress isn't about the size of the step. It's about the direction.
We're wired to feel good when we move forward. Our brains light up with dopamine - the feel-good chemical - not when we reach the finish line, but when we take steps toward it.
Watch a toddler learning to walk. They fall. They get up. They take one wobbly step and collapse.
And they smile like they've conquered the world.
Because they have. They've made progress.
The most successful companies in history weren't built with giant leaps. They were built with small, consistent steps:
Amazon didn't start by selling everything. They sold books. Just books.
Apple's first computer couldn't do a fraction of what your phone does today.
Pixar's first animation was a two-minute short about a desk lamp.
Small steps. Celebrated.
But somewhere along the way, we learn to dismiss small progress. We get impatient. We want the big win, the dramatic transformation, the overnight success.
And when we don't get it, we quit.
The writer deletes the paragraph they managed to finish. The saver ignores the $20 they put away. The runner feels foolish for celebrating a mile when others run marathons.
Here's what winners understand: Progress compounds.
That one pound becomes five, becomes ten. That paragraph becomes a page, becomes a chapter. That single mile becomes a habit, becomes a lifestyle.
But only if you keep going. Only if you celebrate the tiny steps.
James Clear, who studies habits, puts it this way: "If you get one percent better each day for one year, you'll end up thirty-seven times better."
One percent. A tiny step.
So today, ask yourself: What tiny bit of progress did I make that I'm not giving myself credit for? What small step forward am I dismissing because it doesn't seem big enough? What would change if I celebrated progress, not just results?
The joy isn't waiting at the finish line. It's available with every step you take.
No matter how small.
~ aq