At the beginning of October, I read an article on the Harvard Summer School blog about celebrating small wins. It details the importance of acknowledging success in its minor steps. It also highlights how every inch forward produces purpose and hope to help pilot us through the struggles of life.

With assignments and quizzes piling up and midterms looming over us like a dark cloud, now more than ever, it is essential to remember these small triumphs. I feel that the fact that we have made it this far into the semester is an example of one of these triumphs. It might seem like nothing, but it truly is an accomplishment. It is one that should be recognized and not overlooked.

I know that noticing these little successes can be very difficult when there is still so much left to do. Naturally, our brains have a bias toward unfinished work. If something is only partially done, the brain repeats it to keep the information active and prevent us from forgetting the task before it is complete. This mental mechanism is great for getting things done, but I think it sometimes keeps us from being fully aware of the tasks that have been completed successfully.

We barely have time to focus on our victories because they go straight to the finished pile of our brains, where we probably will not ever look at them again. This leaves ample space in our minds for the negative thoughts about errands we have not finalized yet.

Another thing that keeps us from being mindful of our smaller achievements is the urge we sometimes feel to diminish them. Instead of being proud of minimal accomplishments, we label them insignificant or trivial. We do not see minor victories as worthy of celebration. Most times, we do this not because of a mechanism in our brains but because of our society.

We have been taught to applaud monumental moments only. There are no Nobel Peace Prizes for getting out of bed every morning. People tend to get recognition and praise for actions that change the world — extraordinary actions like scientific breakthroughs and international peace lobbying. I am not suggesting we hand out Nobel Peace Prizes for getting up in the morning, but it is important to recognize that you cannot have a scientific breakthrough of any kind without first getting out of bed.

Similarly, it is impossible to make it to December without first going through September. The massive gains we applaud do not stand on their own. Instead, they are the sum of all our smaller wins. That is why it is important to commend ourselves on these successes. If we do, then we encourage ourselves to keep making the small achievements which aid us in accomplishing our much larger goals.

While honouring our small wins is essential, we must be mindful of the complacency trap.

If we focus solely on the small wins, we may neglect the larger goals we have set for ourselves. We might start to see the minor accomplishments as the main prize. It is important to remember that the small steps are incredibly important pieces to the puzzle of our success, but they are not the big picture. We need to use them to spur us forward toward the larger objectives set for this semester. It is important to balance giving weight to the small things we have been able to do while still acknowledging the bigger goals we are working toward.

We are one month into the semester, which is a small and successful feat, but we still have three months left of this race.

So, slow down and take time to celebrate the small wins but do not stop pushing toward the bigger goals.