The "One More Win" Daily Principle

The other day I was talking with a friend and I had mentioned to her that I have this principle I live by that has helped me in so many life situations that it has become 2nd nature.

This principle that has become completely intuitive I've called the "One More Win" daily principle.

What does "One More Win" mean?

You see, we all have bad days or days where we just feel completely un-fulfilled.  We may feel like robots going through life without any real impact or contributions.

And I completely understand that not everyone can just quit their job, leave a relationship, abort a mission, do a 360 or any other quick actions.

Sometimes things are more complicated than that and I am here to tell you: I Get It!

For me, it was repeated life tragedies that threatened to make me just want to give up and not dream big!

There was a five year succession in my early thirties that I encountered loss, after loss, after loss, after loss.  I seriously felt like I was living the life of Job in the bible!

So to help me maintain a sense of hope and joy in looking forward to better times in my life, I created a mentality and deal with myself that if I could just get "one more win" for the day, I'd be okay because all those wins (big or small) would add up.

Sure, I know you've heard many gurus talk about checking off your to-do list, living in the moment, and other great advice.

My "one more win" principle is based on those who have experienced despair, tragedies or other life issues.  I'm not talking necessarily those who are depressed or mental health challenges.

"One more win" is more like a life mantra, no matter where your life is today.

And what I have come to know as a coach is that most people think of success as some one-time breakthrough.  This is not accurate.  Life success according to how you design it is based on some type of daily habit that gets you an inch closer to your goal or how you envision your life.

"One more win" can become your daily habit that ensures that no matter your big goal, there is something that you can always identify from that day that helped you get an inch closer...

Even as an entrepreneur, you may go days, weeks or months feeling like you aren't making any real progress.

It can be so frustrating.

The same frustration is also applicable to:

• leaders leading their team towards a big project goal that lasts several weeks or months (goal: inspire others towards their best work)
• a divorce that drags out for months or years over a custody battle, assets, etc. (goal: move on and find happiness)
• an illness that takes months of intensive treatment to administer (goal: healing)
• a job situation that you were hired to turnaround and motive a global organization that challenges your ability to keep your team focused, motivated and effective (goal: save a social enterprise from collapse that will effect thousands)
• a child that is going through a teenage phase that has you worried whether they will ever grow in their confidence (goal: raise a daring and courageous daughter)
• you are an athlete who wants to compete at the highest level but have a major knee injury early in your competitive career (goal: Olympics competition)

You get the idea.

In all these situations, adopting the "one more win" daily principle is a very practical and applicable activity you can do to focus yourself on moving forward and staying positive on securing a win, big or small.

And sure, ideally maybe you have more than one win for that day but make your obsession at least ONE, towards your goal or objective come hell or high-water.  

A funny example is that one night I was sitting in bed thinking about a really hard day I had had. It was one of those days where it seemed like nothing went right.  Every single person or organization I called that day to coach their leadership team told me No and no one would hear me out.

It sucked!

I couldn't think of a win from that day.  So, I sat there and made myself think of a friend I knew that could use some coaching or encouragement.  Someone specific popped into my mind.

I called them and by the end of the call, they said they "Thanked God" that I called them because they had been feeling so hopeless...ahhh, there's my "one more win"!

Lastly, the "one more win" principle is different than practicing gratitude.  Gratitude is maintaing a state of being thankful for your life, people and events.

The "one more win" principle is more targeted and focused on what moves you inches forward towards a specific goal or objective.

Now go get your "one more win"...