If you celebrate the small victories, you will eventually win the war. – Ian K. Smith

Most of us have been conditioned to celebrate life’s important milestones such as birthdays, graduations, promotions and so forth, yet we often fail to notice that our small victories may just hold as much significance.

Chances are, perhaps on a daily basis, we experience numerous little “wins” that we tend to overlook and take for granted.

These little wins can be as simple as completing a particularly challenging assignment at work or finally making it to that spin class that you’ve been thinking of taking for a while.

These seemingly quizzical victories are just as instrumental because they are the necessary steps which lead us to our “big” achievements.

As Robert Collier, a renowned American author, said “Success is the sum of small efforts – repeated day in and day out”.

As we work towards creating our best lives and becoming the best version of ourselves, it’s crucial that we give ourselves a pat in the back for each job well done.

Be sure to recognize your efforts and once in a while, why not reward yourself with little indulgence that give you joy? Give yourself a gift of a delicious meal, a relaxing spa treatment or a fun weekend at the beach.

The truth is that no matter who we are,  we’re all human and our lives are constant works in progress. And to truly make the most of it, we must savor and embrace the journey on the way to our destinations.

On this often long and winding journey, challenges and obstacles are inevitable and at times there may be no one else we can look to other than ourselves to cheer us on.

Hence, in order to stay inspired and motivated to keep our eyes on the prize, we must become our own best friend, our own raving fan.

So, the next time you’re tempted to take your little victories to stride, no matter how far off your final goal still feels from your grasp, choose instead to take the time to acknowledge and celebrate how far you’ve come.

Recognize who you have become and what you have achieved – for it will get you far…perhaps to better things and places than you could ever dream of!