The Power of 3 Wins

Why less almost always leads to more / Issue 1,464

Oh, hi friends!

Three wins for the day.

That's the plan.

This summer I listened to a lot of personal development (self help!) audiobooks, because they create a nice, easy cadence while running. I'm not going to sprint when thinking about the psychology of “upper-limit problems,” but I might burn out on mile two if I’m belting “make me aaa-liiiiivee,” even if only in my head.

Planning, noticing, and tracking your wins for the day is an exercise shared in The Gap and the Gain by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan.

Here’s the deal…

Before you go to sleep, you think about three wins you had that day — personal or professional, doesn't matter, just three things that felt like “wins.”

(You know what a win feels like to you.)

Then you list three wins to achieve tomorrow. 

And when you wake up the next morning, there's your plan. You have your three wins.

Three winners, almost too majestic for words?! / source

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Three wins? That's dumb. I have 37 things to do, Kara!!! Three won’t get me anywhere.

I’ve said this! You might think this! It’s so real!

But the small number is the point. We can get caught up doing everything that the bigger, more consequential actions — the wins — get kicked to tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

Don’t let them.

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I've been doing this exercise for a few months, and can report it actually works!

I feel more focused during the day, and a greater sense of achievement at the end of the day. Instead of thinking “well, I didn’t do much…” now I notice the wins everywhere, from reading that story for research, to reaching out to a client, to setting up a meeting for an important event far into the horizon.

They stack. They accumulate.

And yes, my wonderful overachieving friends, you might find yourself tallying eight wins at the end of the day! Or 14! Or none. It's all good.

We plan, we do, we reflect.

I hope this might help you today. Despite my brain being pulled in many different directions, I have my focus…the three big things I’ll feel proud to have done when the sun starts to set.

Distillation can be a very good thing.