Make It Stick: A Simple Way to Savor Your Wins

What if the real key to growth isn’t pushing harder, but celebrating more?

In this episode, I’m sharing why savoring your wins matters – how it rewires your brain, reinforces your identity, and helps you live in alignment with your values.

If you’ve been rushing from one goal to the next, this is your invitation to pause, reflect, and really honor the actions you’re taking.

***

I’m your host, Sarah Mikutel, a communication and mindset coach. My work is about helping people like you share your voice, strengthen your relationships, and have more fun.

As an American expat living in the U.K., I value curiosity, courage, and joy. A few things I love: wandering European streets in search of the best vegetarian meal, practicing Italian, and helping my clients design lives that feel rich and meaningful.

If you're ready to have conversations that open doors – in your career, your relationships, and your life – let’s talk.

***

Does the phrase “public speaking” make you feel a little sick…even if it’s just a team meeting or a group conversation? 

I made something to help you.

Calm Your Nerves in 90 Seconds is a free anxiety-reduction toolkit with a guided meditation and journal to help you communicate with confidence.

Use it anytime your brain goes into overdrive and you need a reset.

https://sarahmikutel.com/reset

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are halfway through the year.
July is a natural check-inpoint, a time when people take
stock of their goals, whatthey've achieved so far, where
they've fallen off, how theyplan to get back on track, and I
love this kind of reflection.
It's important to pause and askwhere you are and where you
want to go.
I also believe in somethingjust as important slowing down

(00:25):
to savor the wins you've alreadyhad.
This came up in a conversationwith a client recently.
She casually mentioned leadinga meeting where the CEO dropped
in at the last minute.
Hang on, I said there was atime when an executive popping
into one of your meetings wouldhave sent you into a total death
spiral, and it sounds like itdidn't happen this time.

(00:48):
And she laughed and said ohyeah, it wasn't the best
presentation I've ever given,but it was fine and I didn't
have a panic attack.
So we slow down to celebratethat.
This is a practice I do withall my clients.
Sometimes they don't realizehow far they've come because

(01:08):
their growth has become theirnew normal, and other times
they're in such a rush to tacklethe next big thing that they
move past the progress they'vemade.
But according to research,feeling like you're making
progress is what keeps you going.
The authors of the progressprinciple found that even small
wins can boost our confidenceand motivation.

(01:30):
We can't wait for massivebreakthroughs to celebrate.
We need to honor the smallshifts too.
That's how you buildsustainable change.
Still, a lot of us downplaythese moments.
I'll have clients who say,still, a lot of us downplay
these moments.
I'll have clients who say, okay, I know this isn't a big deal

(01:51):
for most people Step If itmatters to you.
It is a big deal If you stretchyourself.
This is worth honoring One ofmy favorite writers and
researchers, rick Hansen.
He's also senior fellow at UCBerkeley's Greater Good Science
Center.
He puts it this way the brainis like Velcro for the bad and
Teflon for the good.
So the negative stuff sticksand the positive stuff just

(02:13):
slides right out of our brains.
And unless we take time toreally feel that win whether
it's going to the gym three daysin a row or speaking up in a
meeting our brains just tend toforget that stuff.
Again, because of the humanbrain's negativity bias,
negative moments stick aroundand the positive ones just slide

(02:35):
right out of our heads, unlesswe train ourselves to notice and
absorb the good.
This is why I have clientssavor their wins to pause and
reflect on this evidence of whothey are becoming.
Bj Fogg, founder of the BehaviorDesign Lab at Stanford

(02:55):
University, says celebrating ourtiny wins is fundamental to
solidifying new habits.
This is Fundamental tosolidifying new habits.
This is, quote, something youdo to create positive emotions,
such as saying I did a good job.
You celebrate immediately afterdoing the new tiny behavior.

(03:17):
End quote.
And this is from his book TinyHabits.
You may have heard the phraseslow down to speed up.
You may have heard the phraseslow down to speed up.
Slowing down to notice yourgrowth helps reinforce the
habits, the mindset, theidentity that will help you
achieve those goals that you setback in January.

(03:37):
And, more importantly, you'recelebrating being the kind of
person who does what you sayyou'll do.
This is about who you arecelebrating your internal
progress.
You become what you give yourattention to.
So if you only focus on whatwent wrong, you are going to
stay mired in that.
So zoom out and train yourbrain to see life more clearly.

(03:59):
When you do this, you'll findmoments where things went right,
where you showed up in the waythat you wanted to.
Here is what Epictetus has tosay about this Quote If you
don't want to be bad-tempered,then don't feed the habit.
Throw nothing before it onwhich it can feed and grow.
Keep calm and count the days inwhich you haven't lost your

(04:22):
temper.
So be mindful and say I used tolose my temper every day, and
after that every other day, thenevery third day, then every
fourth.
That's from Discourses 218,robin Hard Translation.
Change isn't immediate.
It happens through consistent,intentional repetition, and

(04:42):
noticing your wins, howeversmall, is part of that.
It's how you shift from wantingto be a certain kind of person
to becoming them, and thisapplies to life outside of work
too.
Yesterday I was sitting on thebeach burying my nephew's toes
in the sand.
I felt the grains in my hands,I heard the ocean, I smelled the

(05:05):
sea air and I looked at mynephew's face and felt this huge
wave of gratitude and Irealized I'm not going to be
able to do this.
This is also something tocelebrate.
I made the decision to extendmy trip by three weeks so I
could spend more time with him,because spending time with
family is important to me.
It's something that I value.

(05:26):
So I chose this, and I'm glad Idid so.
I'm letting it in the sound,the smell, the sun, the feeling
of being where I want to be,with the people I love and
living in alignment with myvalues.
So I'm savoring that too.
If you want to try this foryourself, here are a few

(05:46):
questions you can ask what'ssomething I did this year that
scared me, but I did it anyway?
What's a win, big or small,that I'm proud of?
When did I show up in a way Iwasn't able to before?
Who did I make time for?
When did I act on what mattersto me?
And if this feels hard, ifnothing is coming to mind, start

(06:10):
small.
Think of a moment when youdidn't spiral, when you spoke up
, when you kept a promise toyourself.
That is progress.
When you spoke up, when youkept a promise to yourself, that
is progress.
Take one small action today andwhen you do, let yourself feel
that sense of accomplishment.
Progress over perfection.
This is who you're becoming.
This is how character is built.