The last couple of posts I have talked about the difficulties one goes through during the course of running one’s own business. Challenges are part of life, our reactions to them determines the course our life will take. However, there is a positive flip side to the difficulties we face. These are the many wins we accumulate along the way. Unfortunately, we remember our losses a lot more vividly than our wins. Our brain computes both situations differently, often ending up with an imbalance that puts our perception of reality out of proportion. My answer to this is, have a list on your computer, phone or even a personal diary in which you record every win. By recording our wins on paper gives them a life and we are hence able to remember how fortunate we have been.

I am not only talking about wins related to your business such as getting a big contract, securing your funding or recruiting a top notch CEO. I like to include smaller details into the mix, such as getting up on time in the morning, eating healthy during the day, sticking to an exercise regime, clearing out my in box and many other smaller things that add up very quickly. For example let’s say your business loses a big contract or you have to deal with a business loss. When we zoom onto that, and focus solely on that loss, we lose touch with reality as also lose focus of the larger picture. When our wins are put into perspective in relation to our losses, we can actually see a steady progress and understand that we have not been pushed all the way down the ladder. It is this continuous progress that propels us further and helps us get up when we fall.

There is no doubt that things are tough these days. Stories of gloom and doom are a dime a dozen, and everyone seems to be focusing solely on what they have lost or, what could have been. We need to get out of this rut of only remembering and recording our losses and begin recording all the wins we need to be thankful for. It is only when we change our mindsets will we be able to shift our thoughts and focus to what is really important.

I would like to hear about the last “win” you experienced, irrespective of whether it was big or small. I would also really like this page to become a source of inspiration to those people who have forgotten their wins. I look forward to hearing from you.