Celebrating Small Wins

Congratulations! You've made it to the end of the year. That's huge! But just as much of a win is recognizing your small accomplishments along the way. Acknowledging these achievements doesn't mean they're not impressive or important, so let's stop dismissing them as unimportant and start celebrating them instead. Today, I would like to take you into a journey, if you like, about small wins, the importance of "unlearning" and how they are connected to music.

During a recent Nobody Studios call, we were asked to share: “the one thing you cannot tell by just looking at me is___. This is important for me to tell you because___.” (by the way, try to do this exercise at home:) ).

Ok, you may not know this about me, but I am a concert pianist. I was a music prodigy: from the age of 4 I started to listen to music and, as a game, tried it on the piano keyboard. It got better when my parents sang songs to me; soon I was able to catch and play the melody and add the accompaniment to it. Without reading a single note. Ever. Things got interesting, I started to play and experiment music with others, as most of teenagers do. By the age of 18, in the span of 5 years, I had founded a rock band, a jazz trio, and a blues band (this one with my friend Giovanni Garreffa , lead singer). All beautiful memories for a boy from the South of Italy who needed inspiration and experimentation. My hearing developed with great sophistication, so much that I could reproduce entire pieces (also of classical music), by ear, and by heart. Later, while studying at the university in Rome, a new orchestra was being established: to my biggest surprise, I won the auditions. The directors were shocked when they found out I couldn’t read music. That was a parallel exciting journey during my academic studies that lasted for more than 4 years.

Why am I telling you this story??

The reason is that I learnt and I am still learning a lot from the music experience: I recently realized it has several synergies with the life of an entrepreneur.?

Only recently, I have decided to make an experiment and take professional piano lessons, which involved music reading: a totally new world for me. Frankly, a grand challenge! Why? It involved a fair amount of “unlearning”.

In his book, “Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results” Barry O'Reilly defines unlearning as “the process of letting go, reframing, and moving away from once-useful mindsets and acquired behaviors that were effective in the past, but now limit our success. It’s not forgetting, removing, or discarding knowledge or experience. It’s the conscious act of letting go of outdated information and actively engaging in taking in new information to inform effective decision making and action.”

You can imagine what that meant, after more than 30 years of piano playing: posture, execution, reading notes, etc.; a totally different process. Undoubtedly, I felt lost. Can you relate to this feeling? As with anything, no endeavour comes free of challenges.

It all starts with a single bar

At the beginning I was impatient (as I was used to listening and automatically playing a song, with instant dopamine release:) ) to go through the piece. It is a slow, painful process of focused reading, coordination and attention; it became quite frustrating as I thought I wasn't making progress, while in reality, I was! In this unlearning process I understood a fundamental (now obvious) thing: you have to break down the piece in multiple parts, and those are called “bars”; we started with Bach's Inventions (quite a great coincidence, as our Evalify is an innovation studio that generates inventions...of a different nature, of course:) ).

A bit of music theory

Music bars are a unit of measurement used in music notation to indicate the duration of a musical note. In sheet music, each bar (or measure) is separated by a vertical line called a bar line. The number of music bars in a piece of music is an important factor in determining its structure and overall length. Within each bar, the composer can specify the length and rhythm of each musical note, as well as any other musical elements such as dynamics, tempo, and phrasing. Music bars are an important tool for musicians and composers to create and communicate musical ideas and to create a sense of structure and form in a piece of music.

Classical music and jazz are both forms of art music that have their own unique characteristics and traditions

One key difference between classical music and jazz is the way in which the music is composed. In classical music, the melody and harmony are typically written down in sheet music and the performers play the music as it is written. In jazz, the music is often improvised, with the performers creating their own melodies and harmonies on the spot based on the structure of the song.

Another difference is that classical music tends to be more formal and structured, with specific rules for how the music should be played. Jazz, on the other hand, is often more improvisational and spontaneous, with performers building on the structure of the song to create something unique and original.

Both classical music and jazz require discipline and skill, but they each place a different emphasis on creativity and adaptability. As an entrepreneur, adaptability is certainly a crucial skill to have, as it allows you to respond to changes in your industry and market. However, discipline is also important in order to stay focused and achieve your goals.

Learning a new song and navigating life can be challenging and require a lot of hard work and dedication. Both can also be rewarding and fulfilling experiences that allow us to grow and develop as individuals.

One key aspect of both learning a new song and navigating life is the importance of taking things step by step. By breaking down a task or goal into smaller, more manageable pieces, we can make progress and achieve our objectives one step at a time. This can help us feel more confident and motivated as we work towards our goals.

Another important aspect of both learning a new song and navigating life is the role of practice and repetition. Whether it's rehearsing a new piece of music or working on a new skill or habit, consistent practice can help us improve and become more proficient. It can also help us build confidence and develop a sense of accomplishment as we see ourselves making progress.

The process of learning a new song and navigating life both involve facing challenges and working hard to achieve our goals. Both can be rewarding and fulfilling experiences that allow us to grow and develop as individuals.

The Entrepreneurship Analogy

The life of an entrepreneur can involve a lot of solitude, as you may need to make important decisions on your own or spend long hours working on your business. Some people find that having a soundtrack or playlist of music can be helpful in these situations, as it can provide a sense of comfort and motivation. Music can have a powerful effect on our mood and emotions, and listening to certain songs or genres of music can help to improve focus and concentration, reduce stress, and increase feelings of joy and positivity.

If you are an entrepreneur looking for a soundtrack to help you stay focused and motivated, you may want to consider creating a playlist of songs that inspire and energize you. You might also consider incorporating some music that helps you relax and de-stress, as this can be important for maintaining balance and avoiding burnout.

More deeply, I realized that learning a new song can be a rewarding and enjoyable challenge that can help balance the solitude and decision-making that are often part of being an entrepreneur. It can also be a creative outlet that allows you to express yourself and take a break from the demands of your business.

In addition to providing a sense of balance and enjoyment, learning a new song can also have other benefits. For example, it can help improve your memory, problem-solving skills, and coordination. It can also be a way to relax and de-stress, which can be especially helpful during times of high pressure or uncertainty.

The benefits of learning a new song will depend on your personal interests and goals. Whether you choose to learn a classical piece or a jazz standard, the process of tackling a new challenge and creating something new can be rewarding and fulfilling.

Entrepreneurship can often involve a lot of uncertainty and the lack of feedback from outside can make it difficult to know how you are progressing. In these situations, it can be helpful to focus on small wins and celebrate them as a way to stay motivated and engaged. By focusing on the progress you are making and celebrating your achievements (“one bar at a time”), no matter how small they may seem, you can keep yourself motivated and on track towards your long-term goals. This can also help to build momentum and keep you moving forward, even when you encounter setbacks or challenges along the way.

The best entrepreneurs celebrate small wins

Entrepreneurship isn't easy, but it is rewarding. For example, there are many great moments that come from being an entrepreneur. It's a roller coaster ride with its ups and downs, but if you can learn to celebrate the small wins along the way then you'll be able to get through anything!

The best entrepreneurs celebrate small wins.

• Small wins are important. They help you to stay positive, keep going, build momentum and stay focused on the bigger picture.
• Celebrating small wins is an important part of the entrepreneurial journey; it helps you to celebrate your achievements while keeping your eye on what's next and celebrating even more progress in the future.

Small win #1

Now that you have your first customer, you’re probably feeling pretty great. You’ve accomplished a goal and made it through the hard part of getting people to pay you. This is an important win because it says that what you have to offer is something that people want.

Small win #2

In entrepreneurship, it's important to celebrate the small wins. These are the pieces of the puzzle that make up the whole, not just a big picture. No matter how small they may seem at first glance, each win is an achievement and deserves recognition. It's easy to forget about these successes when you're focused on solving larger problems or when you're struggling with something that feels impossible to overcome.

The importance of celebrating small wins in entrepreneurship (and especially in other dimensions of life) cannot be understated—these are what get you through those larger challenges!

Small win #3

Small wins are the stepping stones to success. They’re important because they give you confidence, and they can be anything that you achieve or do to improve your business, and your life.

Celebrating small wins is what gets you through the larger challenges

When you're working hard on an idea and not getting much feedback, it can be easy to get discouraged and think that your idea is terrible. You might start thinking that this whole entrepreneurship thing is a mistake, or worse: that you're not cut out for it at all. But if you celebrate small wins, like any entrepreneur has done before you (and will continue to do), then those moments of doubt aren't as overwhelming or discouraging as they would otherwise be. Celebrating the small wins reminds us why we started our businesses in the first place and gives us energy to keep going through the difficult parts of entrepreneurship.

The act of celebrating itself helps build good habits too: celebrating becomes easier when we develop a habit toward it—even if once in a while feels forced. It’s impossible to celebrate something that doesn’t exist; so by making sure we take some time out every week (or day!) to acknowledge our successes early on in their development process allows us to come back around when things aren't going well with fresh eyes later down the line?

Celebrating the small wins is an important part of entrepreneurship that can't be stressed enough. It helps keep your focus on what you're trying to achieve and reminds you why you started your business in the first place

Take aways

The truth is, small wins are what keep us going in the long run. When we feel like our business is failing, we can't see those wins and celebrate them—and without them, we'd eventually give up and walk away from our businesses altogether. But when we celebrate our small wins, even if they seem insignificant at first glance, we remind ourselves that we're making progress—even if it feels slow sometimes. And when we're reminded of all the progress we've made over time, it helps us keep going even when things get tough.

There's a lot of pressure on entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. But if you're not careful, that pressure can lead to burnout and exhaustion.

And when you're exhausted, you can't do the thing that's most important: taking care of yourself so that you can take care of your business and the others.

So how do you keep it all together while still keeping your eye on the big picture?

By celebrating small wins.

The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.

Attributed to L. P. Jacks.