Have you ever had a goal where you thought “my life will be so much better if I can just cross this one finish line”? That’s pinning a lot of hope on something you can’t always control. That’s assuming life is inadequate until some arbitrary box is checked. That kind of finish line moves as soon as you reach it. There’s something that works much better, let’s talk about it.

My typical “over the counter self hatred” comes from repeatedly making the same mistakes that sabotage my goals. Like when stress-eating leads to this UberEats notification: “You’re in the top 0.01% of DunkinDonuts customers, care to leave a review?” Seriously. When the one part of your life where you are exceptional is paying $10 for a Depression Donut, it’s time to reassess. Talk about adding insulin to injury.

The cure to this is very close to the iconic “No Zero Days” Reddit post which you should look up if you haven’t read. Even if it’s a tiny step forward, to see yourself taking a step towards your goals every day is highly motivating. Mistakes still happen, of course, but it’s moving in the wrong direction consistently that creates feelings of hopelessness. It’s hard to feel optimistic about the future when you dislike the trajectory of your life. So if you don’t like where things are headed, it’s time to make a change.

Decide what your top priorities are and find small steps towards them you can take every single day. Having your actions align with those priorities is what builds your confidence in yourself and your ability to complete things you decide to do. Anything is better than nothing, and even sitting still is better than moving in the wrong direction. Right now you feel terrible because you’re sprinting south when you know you want to go north.

I don’t want you to have Dunkin Donuts Loyal Customer moments like I did. I don’t want you to see yourself moving farther away from your goals and resenting yourself for it. Most goals cannot be completed in a day, so we can’t wait on the finish line to feel good about progress. Take the steps you can take today. Take pride and satisfaction that those steps moved you in the direction you want to go. And take steps in that direction every single day, no matter how small. Over time, they’ll take you farther than you realize.