When Mike and I first started Holstee, we learned a simple lesson the hard way. Much like today, we had endless to-do lists. Logging 10-12 hours each day, we were just two young and scrappy 20-somethings trying to do it all.

But we felt like we were hardly making a dent in our work. So we dialed it up even more — more cups of coffee, later nights, earlier mornings — determined to get on top of our workload.

But every time we crossed 10 things off those lists, 10 more popped up — the modern equivalent of Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill for eternity.

Despite doing a lot, we never got the reward of feeling like we were moving forward. We never felt fulfilled. Inevitably, we’d end the week feeling defeated.

It took a few months before we realized that this was not sustainable — not for our minds, our bodies, or our business. So we put in place a tradition that we still practice today, 10 years later.

Every Friday, each Holstee team member identifies their highlights and accomplishments from the past week. They then share this list in a dedicated “Wins” channel on Slack, our team communication platform.

While the length of our to-do lists hasn't changed and we still burn the midnight oil on occasion, we now feel we can end the week reflecting on how far we’ve come and acknowledge the small steps it takes to get there. This helps us enter the weekend feeling accomplished.

So much of how we feel is informed by our outlook, which can often be skewed. Sometimes all we need to do is create a practice to reflect on our days and weeks to see how far we’ve actually come — to fire up that sense of fulfillment we all deserve to feel.

It's easy to see what's yet to be done, but don't forget to celebrate all you’ve accomplished.

 
Dave Radparvar
Co-Founder, Holstee

P.S. We have brought this tradition to our member community, with members sharing their Weekly Wins every Friday in our online group. Become a Holstee Member and join us in this weekly practice for yourself!