Hey Team!
How are you tracking your victories this year?
Now, if you are about to get all, “Christine, I’m not sure I am going to have any victories this year, I’m just trying to keep things small and…” then please pause that thought.
You know what I am going to say, right?
TEAM, EVERY EFFORT IS A VICTORY.
And since every effort is a victory, a step towards the life you want to create, it only makes sense to keep a record.
I like to keep a record of my efforts rather than my results because I know I can’t control my results (in fact, I can barely imagine what they might end up being) and tracking my efforts helps me to see the work I am doing on a regular basis.
Not everyone needs to keep this kind of record, of course, some people are able to do what feels right on a given day and trust in the process.
However, if I tried to do that not only would I often forget to do things that are important to me (Hello, ADHD!), but each action would feel isolated and kind of random.
Keeping track helps me to grasp that my daily activities have meaning, that my small efforts are part of a bigger project.
If I track my efforts, my victories, in some way, then they will automatically seem like part of a larger life project – the project of feeling good in my body and in my brain.*
So, I would like to invite you to consider doing something similar, to find ways that help you record your actions, your efforts, your victories, as you move towards the life you want to create.
Now, I’m not saying that you MUST create elaborate tracking charts or fancy spreadsheets but if you enjoy that kind of process, please have at it.
What I am saying is that tracking your habit-related actions can be useful and that you can do that tracking in any way that suits you.
You can track in a detailed way – noting the specifics of each exercise or practice to measure things that have meaning for you. (For example – I’m keeping track of how one of my hips feel.)
You can track simply – just noting whether or not you did the thing (don’t forget to set a low bar for what counts as done.)
Tracking can look like:
Adding stickers or a mark on a calendar (or a piece of paper with your habit written at the top)
Adding marbles or stones to a jar every time you do the thing.
Creating a tally sheet.
Creating a bingo card.
Creating a spreadsheet.
Creating a chart in your notebook.
Using a digital tracker.
Keeping a reflective fitness or well-being journal.
Getting an accountability buddy and texting them whenever you do the thing.
You can choose literally any way of keeping track and you can use that method any way that you like.
The key here is that you find a way that works for you, that feels easy, and that helps you feel and see your accumulated efforts.
Like I said above, keeping track of your victories helps you focus on the things you can take charge of – your actions – rather than waiting on the things you cannot control – any possible results.
And if you have tried tracking your actions before but it didn’t feel great, you may want to work on reframing what the information in your tracker means.
Tracking your victories isn’t about creating guilt or shame, it’s about information.
If your tracker reveals that you are never getting around to certain tasks or activities, it doesn’t mean anything negative about you, it just means that you need to adjust your systems, that you may need to choose different activities for this point in your life, or that your initial idea for a new habit isn’t a good fit.
You don’t need to adjust to fit your plans, your plans need to adjust to suit you.
And the same goes for your tracker.
If your tracker doesn’t help you celebrate your victories, then kick that thing to the metaphorical curb.
Anyway, Team, whether you are tracking your victories, exploring your habit-building on a day-to-day basis, or trying something that I haven’t even thought of, I wish you ease and fun and great success.
And, I offer you these gold stars in celebration of your victories.
Your hard work matters.
You matter.
Go Team Us!
*Yes, they would be part of that project even if I wasn’t tracking them but I would be less conscious of it and that’s less helpful.
