You know that Friday feeling…you’ve worked hard all week and feel the excitement of the much-anticipated weekend. Before you close out your day, I recommend you complete one more intentional task. 

Earlier this year, I started writing down my weekly wins. I loved the feeling I got from recognizing what I did accomplish and kept with it for several weeks. Over time, I added to this reflection and created a Friday afternoon ritual that involves 3 steps to close out the week. Consistently performing this ritual has reduced the amount of work I focus on over the weekend and sets me up for success come Monday. 

Grab a journal and pen to write these 3 steps to wrap up your work week! 

1. Write down weekly wins – Aim to recognize 3 wins, but don’t limit yourself. I’ve found it becomes easier to recognize wins the more you implement this habit. Wins can be personal or professional because success in one area of your life carries over into the other areas. 
2. Note any lessons learned – Habitually noting what you learned on your goal achievement journey helps establish a progress not perfection mindset. It’s fascinating to look back at weekly lessons from weeks ago to see how far you’ve progressed. 
3. Identify 3-4 priorities for the next week – Taking the time to write your focus for the next week helps silence the mind over the weekend, because you set the plan in advance. At least one priority should directly impact your most meaningful goal for the year. Be sure you schedule time on your calendar to accomplish these priorities.  

I believe it’s critical to celebrate small wins on the goal achievement journey, because we tend to forget what we’ve accomplished and laser-focus on what we didn’t. Do you ever notice how you can easily recall the mistakes you made, targets you missed or how much work still remains? Without celebrating along the way it’s easy to feel defeated and overwhelmed. These feelings result in the temptation to give up on goals or to decide your efforts aren’t good enough. Achieving big goals requires consistent focus and effort. Sometimes it can take weeks or months to experience the payoff because consistency compounds. Writing down (pen and paper) your weekly wins helps reframe the narrative. Instead of focusing on how far off you are from your goal you start to recognize the progress you already made.