In many ways, 2022 was one dumpster fire of a year for me. I lost a ton of money on paper. I lost a lot of revenue. I published a book everyone loves to read but no one wants to buy. In other words, I was more than ready for 2022 to be over, and yet…
One day, I opened my Duolingo app and saw my 2022 year-in-review. Encouragingly, Duo informed me that I was a top 1% learner on their platform. A “world champion,” they called me. That felt nice. It also felt nice to realize that, per my statistics, I only spent five minutes a day on the app — but I did so every single day of the year. How inspiring, don’t you think? Five minutes a day can get you into the top 1% of something millions of people are trying to do.
That made me remember another thing I did every day, and that was to write this blog. I kept my promise! To myself and to you. That, too, felt rather encouraging.
It’s easy to forget our successes when our failures loom large, but once you start digging, you’ll unearth many tiny gems, even if, on the surface, it all just looks like dirt.
Celebrate the little wins on the days when they happen and you need them, sure, but, just as importantly, remember the little wins when the big picture is crooked — so you may steady first yourself and then, with time and renewed patience, the frame on the wall.