Lower the bar

We often intentionally keep ourselves from feeling good about our day-to-day progress. We save that tap on the back or that feeling of success for our truly great achievements: a big promotion, setting a personal record in fitness, or finishing a major piece of art.

We perhaps sometimes treat the feeling of success as if it were a scarce commodity or something that might corrupt us. We worry that feeling too good about ourselves will make us lazy or complacent. We starve ourselves of that feeling of success now to motivate ourselves to do something truly audacious and ambitious.

Put simply, we set our bar for what makes us feel successful or proud very high.

If this sounds like you, I have an experiment for you: For the next week or so, try lowering that bar as low as you possibly can, lower than feels responsible or reasonable. Be exceedingly generous with yourself. Flood your system with a sense of success. Find the smallest, most inconsequential positive steps forward and celebrate them. Find as many as you possibly can.

First, I think you’ll notice that this feeling is in no way scarce. You’re at no risk of it running out. Second, I think you’ll find that your mental health and general enjoyment of life are vastly improved.

But more than all that, I think you might find that feeling successful has an alluring, habit-forming quality. You will naturally be drawn to do whatever makes you feel successful and proud of yourself. And if you can make the practices that move you forward a part of your routine, then you have the basis for transforming your life.