Why should you celebrate small wins when going for a big goal? A big goal can be intimidating and if you’re aiming high it’s easy to get frustrated. This is all the more true when building an online business. If you’re not sure of your approach, if can be easy to become overwhelmed and quit.
The affiliate marketing failure rate is pretty high (around 95%). To be in the 5% of those who manage to build an income online you need a good strategy; not only in building your business, but also in developing mindsets and attitudes which will help you overcome problems and frustrations. Overwhelm is a pretty big problem for new affiliate marketers. Imagine how you’ll feel after several months of working without any sales or feedback. That’s the point where a lot of people become frustrated and quit.
In a state of frustration or overwhelm, it’s a good idea to remember to celebrate small wins.
Celebrate Small Wins
Big goals can create a lot of frustration if you’re unsure how you’re going to achieve them. Breaking big goals down into small achievable steps is the best way to combat this problem. A small micro commitment each day to do the next little thing, is very powerful over time. For affiliate marketers this could be baby steps such as:
- Write an article or blog post
- Watch a training video
- Build a back link
- Set up an advert
- Add an email message to your autoresponder
- Learn something new
If having a profitable online business is the goal, you need to break this down into smaller steps which are easily achievable. Otherwise, you can spend a lot of time in indecision, procrastinating and getting frustrated. Imperfect action is better than perfect procrastination!
Mini Habits
In Stephen Guise’s book Mini Habits, he breaks down big achievements into tiny micro steps which are easily achievable. Habits are powerful over time and this is the leverage you need to build into your life as an affiliate marketer. A strong habit can make your business and set you on the path to your longer term goals. Building a new habit which serves your longer term purpose is a great thing to focus on.
As a new affiliate marketer I spent a lot of time in the state of confusion, procrastination and overwhelm. I couldn’t decide on my strategy and spent a huge amount of time jumping from one thing to another. When I got no results for my efforts I became dissatisfied and procrastinated all the more.
By making habits out of tiny micro-commitments, you are focusing on what you can do in the moment, not on your results or lack of.
Small Wins Through Blogging
One of the strategies I’ve used as an affiliate marketer is blogging. I’ve made a habit out of blogging over a number of years. The effect of this habit has compounded over time. Initially of course a single blog post won’t make your online business. But as you maintain the habit of doing it regularly, you will soon have hundreds of blog posts which can attract more and more visitors over time.
A single blog post also seems a bit daunting if you’ve never done one. You may wonder what to write about, or if your content is good enough. But once you break the inertia of not doing, and turn your attention to mini habits, you’ll find it eventually will be more difficult not to write that blog post than to write it!
Use this same analogy in any aspect of your life whether it be fitness, diet, building an online business or anything else you want to improve. Start with building habits out of the things which will impact your life the most. Don’t start with a huge list of things to do.
Just start with a mini habit. Mini Habits should be so small that even on a bad day you can still do them. A single press up, reading 10 pages of a book, writing in a diary daily are all examples of mini habits. Alone in isolation they don’t seem like much, but over months and years they compound. Once you’re in the place of doing that single push up, you’re more likely to do another.
Celebrate Small Wins – The Plateau Of Latent Potential
The above image is from James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. The “valley of disappointment” is where many people find themselves when attempting to attain a large goal. This is where many give up and their efforts dwindle. They start thinking their goal is too big, or not possible. They lower their goals rather than doubling their efforts.
Having a strategy to focus on small achievable steps which carry you to larger goals is fundamental to success. When you are in a state of frustration, upset, overwhelm or procrastination, you focus on the one thing you can do, rather than the myriad of things which are out of your control. By doing it over and over, and having a mini habits strategy, you can avoid falling into such a negative state. In a state of overwhelm, it’s easy to waste an entire day accomplishing nothing. Far better to do one small thing which is easily accomplished and takes you even a small distance forward.
A Positive Feedback Loop
When you celebrate small wins, you set up a positive feedback “loop” which reinforces a behaviour you intend to make into a habit. So a tiny step forward can become the bedrock you build your goals on. By taking tiny steps each day, and focusing on a 1% improvement, rather than a giant leap, you set yourself up for long term success.
Thinking of huge goals but without a clear action step to take in the present can set up the opposite. You remind yourself of the desire, but your results aren’t there yet. So you become frustrated and procrastinate, doing nothing useful. It becomes a negative reinforcement loop of frustration!
Don’t look for results, focus only on the small thing you can do today to move towards your goals.
