How Small Wins Boost Resilience, Emotional Wellbeing, and Personal Growth
Why Small Wins Matter in Healing: How Tiny Steps Create Lasting Change
In a world that celebrates big milestones and overnight transformations, it’s easy to overlook the quiet progress we make every day. But authentic and sustainable growth is rarely the result of massive breakthroughs. Instead, it unfolds through gentle, consistent actions, the kind that seem small on the surface but carry deep internal impact over time.
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, wisely states, "All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision." This simple truth encapsulates the essence of personal growth: real change happens through daily, incremental steps, not monumental leaps.
If you’re navigating emotional overwhelm, healing from grief, or trying to make sense of life transitions, this blog will help you discover why celebrating small wins aren’t trivial, infact, they are transformational.
How Small Wins Support Your Mental Health and Motivation
Small wins are more than just feel-good moments; they are deeply rooted in psychology and neuroscience. These seemingly minor achievements have a significant cumulative impact on our feelings, coping mechanisms, and personal growth over time. Research in positive psychology indicates that recognizing small wins enhances our sense of progress and emotional resilience.
According to Teresa Amabile’s Progress Principle (2011), even the smallest steps forward like responding differently in a triggering moment or choosing rest instead of pushing can ignite emotional clarity, emotional regulation, engagement, and empowerment from within.
Each time you recognise a small win, your brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that boosts mood, focus, and reinforcement of positive behaviours. Over time, this natural reward system enhances your capacity to regulate, stay connected, and keep going, especially during difficult seasons.
As Dr. Barbara Fredrickson's research shows, gratitude for these micro-movements increases psychological well-being and builds emotional resilience (Fredrickson, 2006).
"Trust and listen, even the smallest win whispers: you're growing."
- Nisha Trivedi
My Personal Experience: How Tiny Shifts Created Big Change
Leaving behind a 19-year career in the corporate world to create New Leaf with Nisha hasn’t been a linear path. There have been unknowns, pivots, and seasons where progress felt almost invisible. Yet, it’s in this in-between, that I’ve come to truly understand the quiet power of small wins.
A small win might look like noticing how I brace my shoulders when I’m uncertain. It might be choosing rest instead of pushing through. Or showing up to supervision with my full, unpolished self. These moments aren’t just habits, they’re somatic signals of self-trust and nervous system safety.
This practice of tuning inward to breath, posture, and emotional shifts has become the foundation of my work as a somatic counsellor. It’s how I support others through life transitions, grief, burnout, and the slow, courageous process of becoming.
These shifts may appear subtle, but their impact is profound. They help regulate the nervous system, restore inner safety, and cultivate a more aligned way of being and one that is not shaped by urgency, but grounded in presence.
It’s this same approach I offer in my work with clients. We don’t force transformation. We honour what’s emerging, stay with what’s tender, and support your nervous system to move forward at a pace that’s sustainable.
Because small wins aren’t just moments, they’re milestones. And in times of change, they remind us that healing doesn’t have to be loud to be life-changing.
If you’re ready to experience these changes yourself, explore 1:1 somatic sessions or book a free discovery call.
Try This: A Grounding Practice to Anchor Yourself in the Now
Small wins can be felt in the body.
One of the most effective ways I support clients is through nervous system grounding. These practices bring you back to the present moment not by bypassing discomfort, but by reconnecting with inner safety.
Why it works: Grounding helps regulate your nervous system by increasing interoception (your awareness of internal cues), which supports emotional balance, presence, and resilience.
Listen and Practice using the Grounding Practice Video
I've recorded a short video below to walk you through a gentle grounding practice. Whether you're new to somatic work or reconnecting after a season of stress, this is a moment to come home to your body with presence. The practice helps you reconnect with your breath, body, and inner sense of stability, one small step at a time.
Let your breath slow. Let your senses guide you. Let this be a small, powerful win today.
"Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up."
-Brené Brown
Celebrating Small Wins: Daily Practices to Build Self-Trust and Resilience
Recognising and celebrating small wins isn’t just a feel-good moment — it’s a nervous system regulation strategy and a powerful reframe that builds emotional resilience, motivation, and self-trust. Whether you're in a season of healing, transition, or growth, these gentle practices can anchor you through it.
1. Redefine What Progress Looks Like
Progress doesn’t have to be dramatic. Sometimes it looks like choosing rest, honouring your emotions, or speaking your truth with shaky confidence. These small acts are powerful.
Every tiny choice toward alignment creates momentum.
2. Practice Self-Compassion
Healing is rarely linear. Some days you’ll move forward, and others you’ll pause. Both are sacred. Meet yourself where you are and not where you “should” be.
“Some days, your win is just surviving the day and that counts.”
3. Stay Present With the Now
We often miss our own progress by focusing too far ahead.
Take a moment to reflect: What felt different today? Maybe it was a clearer boundary, a deeper breath, or reaching out for support. These are wins worth honouring.
Small present-moment reflections build lasting inner change.
4. Feel Gratitude for the Micro-Movements
Research in positive psychology shows that gratitude for small progress increases well-being and motivation (Fredrickson, 2006). By appreciating small wins such as a kind thought, a shifted habit, a moment of calm, you reinforce the neural pathways that support lasting growth.
Why Gentle, Consistent Growth Changes Everything
Lasting transformation is rarely about doing more; it’s about becoming more present.
Teresa Amabile’s research shows that recognizing daily progress is a better predictor of long-term engagement and satisfaction than external validation. Neuroscience supports this as well: each small win rewires your brain for greater clarity, stability, and ongoing growth.
At New Leaf with Nisha, I witness this every day. I see the moment someone realizes they don’t have to hustle for their worth. It’s in the steady exhale that signals, “I’m safe now.” It’s in the decision to return to oneself, even when it’s difficult.
These are the wins that matter. These are the ones that last.
Embrace the Strength of Small Wins: What’s One You Can Celebrate Today?
Pause. Breathe. Reflect:
What’s one small shift you made today that deserves your recognition?
Maybe it’s reaching out for support.
Maybe it’s softening your tone with yourself.
Maybe it’s simply being here, reading this and choosing to be present with yourself.
These choices are not insignificant. They are sacred.
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References:
Amabile, T. M. (2011). The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. Harvard Business Review Press.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). Positive Emotions and Upward Spirals in Organizations, Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 27(7), 869–888.
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Penguin Random House.
