Let me start with a confession. I once celebrated fixing a jammed printer like I had just won the Super Bowl. Hands in the air. A little victory dance. Fist-pumping. Some expletives might’ve been thrown at an inanimate object. (Spoiler: it was still the printer.)

But honestly? I stand by that moment. Because here’s the truth no one tells you loudly enough: small wins matter. A lot. They’re like the push-start you give a stalled car on a hill—seemingly minor at the moment, but enough to get things rolling toward somewhere better.

Over the years, I’ve built businesses, worked with brilliant—and sometimes baffling—people, and navigated my fair share of detours, rebrands, and “why did we think that was a good idea?” moments. And if there’s one lesson that proves itself over and over again, it’s that momentum doesn’t come from one giant leap. It comes from a hundred tiny steps in the right direction.

The Myth of Overnight Success

We love the story of the overnight success. The entrepreneur who goes from garage to glory in six months. The viral sensation who wakes up to a million followers without so much as brushing their teeth.

But behind every one of those flashy headlines is usually a decade of unglamorous, unpaid, and largely unnoticed small wins. Before Apple launched the iPhone, they spent years tinkering with products you’ve probably never even heard of. Before a TED Talk gets a standing ovation, someone had to survive painfully awkward practice runs—usually in front of a skeptical spouse or a judgmental dog. (And honestly, the dog wasn’t even impressed.)

The idea that major success comes from one lightning-strike moment isn’t just misleading—it’s dangerous. It causes people to undervalue the small stuff, discourages teams when the big win takes longer than expected, and completely misses how the brain, the body, and the business world actually work.

Your Brain on Progress

Science backs this up. Studies show that small wins trigger the release of dopamine—the “feel good” chemical that boosts motivation, energy, and focus. In other words, our brains aren’t wired to reward perfection; they’re wired to reward progress. That little “I checked something off the list” moment? That tiny feeling of movement forward? That’s biochemical gold.

This is why habits work best when they start ridiculously small. Want to start running? Don’t commit to five miles a day. Start by putting on your shoes and walking to the mailbox. That action, tiny as it is, creates a win. Your brain takes note. Tomorrow, you’ll go a little further. And the day after that, maybe a little further still. Momentum doesn’t roar in overnight. It sneaks in, disguised as small, doable actions.

Base Hits, Not Just Home Runs

One of my old coworkers had a saying that’s tattooed on my brain: “You can’t hit a grand slam if nobody’s on base.” He wasn’t just talking about baseball—he was talking about business, about life, about any situation where you’re trying to build something bigger than yourself.

Everyone loves to swing for the fences. Everyone loves the story about the massive, dramatic home run. But real success? It’s built on base hits. You show up. You take the pitch. You get on base. You advance the runners. You keep the momentum moving.

The teams that win big games are the ones who stack base hit after base hit—not just the ones who pray for home runs. If you’re always swinging for the fences, you’ll have some big moments—but you’ll also have a lot of strikeouts. Small wins—those base hits—set the stage for the grand slams when they happen. And when they happen, it’s not magic. It’s because you did the work to put runners in position.

The Compound Effect in Action

Small wins are like compound interest. The effect feels almost invisible at first—like you’re doing all this work for little to no return. But over time? It becomes exponential.

In a team setting, this looks like fixing that one nagging bug in the CRM before tackling a complete system overhaul. It looks like having a productive 15-minute check-in that clarifies priorities. It looks like getting one skeptical stakeholder to nod instead of scowl during a meeting (you know who they are).

None of these moments alone will make the cover of Forbes. But stack them together, and you start to create something bigger than any single action. Culture shifts. Energy rises. People stop feeling stuck—and start believing the big thing might actually happen.

And it’s the same outside of work. The 10-minute evening walk you take with your spouse when you’re both tired? The consistent texts you send to stay connected with an old friend? The decision to prep a healthy lunch instead of ordering takeout again? None of these feel like grand achievements. But stack them over days, weeks, and months—and you start building a healthier, happier, more connected life. One that inevitably spills over into your energy, your confidence, and, yes, your success at work as well.

Creating a Culture of Micro-Victories

At our company, we have a tradition we call “MVP of the Week.” And it doesn’t go to the person who closed the biggest deal or dazzled in a client presentation. It goes to the person who moved the needle—who helped someone else succeed, who took initiative, who made something just a little bit better for the team.

We also have a Slack channel dedicated purely to wins. It’s a running highlight reel of tiny victories—and let me tell you, there’s something electric about people celebrating things like, “Finally figured out what was blocking me!” or “Client actually responded to my 5th follow-up email (persistence works!).”

Small wins create an upward spiral. One person’s momentum sparks another’s. And pretty soon, the big, scary project doesn’t seem so frightening anymore. It just looks like the next step forward.

Start Where You Are, With What You Have

I once worked with a client who was completely overwhelmed by the idea of overhauling their lead management process. Every meeting started with the same heavy sigh: “There’s just so much broken. We don’t even know where to start.”

So we zoomed in. What’s one part of lead management that causes the most confusion? Assigning new leads to the right people. We simplified the assignment rules first. Tiny win.

Next, we cleaned up the lead stages so everyone knew exactly what the statuses meant. Then, we updated the follow-up templates to make sure no opportunities slipped through the cracks.

Now, I’m not telling you these details to bore you to death with CRM admin work. I’m telling you because this is exactly the kind of stuff that doesn’t feel sexy, exciting, or headline-worthy—but it’s where real progress happens. Small wins often look incredibly boring on the surface. But stack enough of them together, and suddenly, everything starts working better.

A few weeks later? Their lead response time had improved by 38%, and their team was converting more leads without even adding extra work.

Same team. Same goal. Just a smarter approach: small wins stacked with intention.

And it’s the same logic in life, too. Want a better relationship with your kids? Start by sitting down and asking about their day—even if they just grunt a reply at first. Want better health? Start by drinking a glass of water before your morning coffee. It doesn’t have to be massive. It just has to start.

Next Play

Recently, at church, I heard a message called “Next Play” that hit me right between the eyes. The idea was simple—and honestly, brilliant: don’t get stuck in failure.

You fumble, you miss a shot, you get knocked down—your job isn’t to sit there replaying it over and over. Your job is to get up and move on to the next play.

Celebrate the small victories. Shake off the mistakes. Stay moving. The players who succeed aren’t the ones who never mess up—they’re the ones who don’t let mistakes define them. They don’t camp out at the scene of the failure. They move forward.

It’s the same in relationships, parenting, health, and business. Didn’t hit the gym today? Next play. Had a disagreement with someone you care about? Next play. Lost a big deal? Next play. Forward motion is where life happens.

The Magic Is in the Doing

Most of the people I admire aren’t superhuman. They’re not operating on some secret level the rest of us don’t have access to. They’re just people who figured out how to keep showing up.

They realized you don’t need to feel ready to take a step—you just need to take it. And then take another one tomorrow. And the day after that.

Progress is messy. Wins are often weird. But if you train yourself (and your team) to spot and celebrate the minor achievements, the big stuff tends to work itself out.

So go ahead—cheer for the small thing today. The email sent. The process improved. The meeting that actually ended early without spiraling into “just one more thing.” Throw a fist bump to the universe. You earned it. And if your printer happens to be working today? Take the win. Seriously. Take it.