I used to only want to win big.
But when that pretty much never happened, life finally taught me to calm down, learn gratitude (cliche af, I know), and take things as they come.
I suppose parenting helps with this as well, but I digress.
So as I mentioned in my last letter, I've been pretty excited over the public reception of my new project.
And in the process, I've been re-discovering the importance of the small wins.
Not the big wins–like selling my first HTO or getting monetized on YouTube–just the little dopamine hits that keep an entrepreneur going. New subs, more views, positive comments, new e-mail subscribers.
These little wins have been piling up so quickly over the past 18 days that I daresay my standards for a "big win" may have balanced out with reality.
I've never had any kind of social account grow this fast:
Nor do I often see such a high view count on my videos. Despite a fairly low retention rate (10%, about 5 minutes), somehow the video has been locked into the algorithm over the last 2 weeks and stacking up views.
Feels like for the first time I'm really starting to tune into a signal, a frequency that people in the space are resonating with. It's becoming clearer with every new video I post.
Meanwhile, in other "small win" news...
MontessoriFind got its first organic Google clicks!
Seven. Whole. Clicks. (out of 2K+ impressions, yikes lol)
And I'm celebrating!
I've never had an SEO project before. I clearly need to make the website look more enticing from the Google search results page, but at least it's showing up. I don't know where this will lead, but hey... progress is progress.
Originally I thought I'd build this to turn into a legit project, but now I see that it inspired the YouTube attention, which is much more important & fulfilling to me.
Maybe I'll just keep making directory build tutorial videos.
To wrap up this talk of small wins, there's something I've been wrestling with lately that brings my thought process full circle:
March has been the first month in 2+ years I haven't been chasing dollars. There are moments when I catch myself asking what the hell I'm doing not seeking actual income. All I'm doing is building web apps with AI and creating content. (And loving it.)
Despite the compounding little wins, that voice manages to creep in and whisper in my ear, "You should be chasing dollars, not views..."
I've been down that road before, chasing dollars in the short-term, and I'm just... over it. That short-term hustle makes the long-term vision so easily forgotten. Chasing the quick wins that don't compound is a race you don't win if you're trying to craft a life of complete freedom.
What I'm building here now is different. Long-term, low time preference. Requiring patience.
I've found that focusing on these little wins throughout the week keeps me motivated.
It keeps me excited. Less emotionally volatile.
Each small victory is another data point confirming I'm on the right track.
