Over the last year, anytime I had too much change in my purse, or found any change lying around, I’d pop into into a large bottle-shaped piggy bank. This bottle was full of 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c etc coins, and started to be quite heavy. As the Irish government was phasing out 1c and 2c coins, I thought it would be a good time to cash the bottle in. I took it into a local supermarket, one that has one of those machines that you empty the change into. It then counts it up for you and then, after deducting 9.9% (why they couldn’t just say 10% is beyond me!), presents you with the total. After I used the machine, I was presented with a voucher to either use in the store, or cash in. Here’s what happened:

All those little coins turned into over €140!

Now, think about a goal that you’d like to achieve. For any large goal, to make the goal more achievable, you could break down the goal into sub-goals and into even smaller sub-sub-goals. For example, I’m working on improving my fitness. To do this I:

• book a slot at Sásta
• set my alarm and get up early
• drive to Sásta
• complete my fitness session.

Each of these sub-sub goals builds up into the sub-goal of completing one session. And, as it takes more than one fitness session to get fit, developing the habit of going to the gym will eventually lead to me improving my fitness and achieving my goal of running a 10k run by the end of 2016.

Now, let’s imagine that each coin in my bottle was a success. The 1c coins are little successes (such as each time I got up earlier), and as each nominal value increases, so does the success. Those seemingly unimportant successes can actually build up into something bigger, and when you bank each success, big or small, you are acknowledging the time and effort it took to achieve that success.

So how would it be if you had a jar and started writing down each success on a post-it note and put that into the jar. What would your jar look like at the end of the month, in six months time, this time next year? Now, even better, what would it be like to open the jar and read each success? How would that feel. Why don’t you try it? Someone I know even bought a clear piggy-bank and colourful post-it notes to do this. It looked so pretty as the successes built up.

So before I go, I’d like you to think about what small habit you can develop each day that may ultimately have a bigger impact on your life. Now, each time you are successful in achieving that habit, bank that success. Do the same with bigger successes. Build your own jar of successes and periodically review your jar, and enjoy your success.

Take care for now, and remember, you ARE resourceful, creative and whole.

Karen