STC UUX Community Newsletter
Usability Interface

Editorial - Cheer Your Achievements, No Matter How Small

By David Dick

Do you have days when you feel that you are not making any progress? Do you feel that despite all time and effort you are not seeing any results? If so, do not be discouraged. Whatever we want to achieve is often best accomplished by taking small steps.

When we were infants, walking was an important milestone for us. Before we could take those first steps, we had to learn how to stand up and balance ourselves. We smiled at our achievement and our parents cheered, which gave us the encouragement we needed to reach for the next goal-to take our first step. We fell down, but we picked ourselves up and took another step. We don't remember how many times we got up, took a few steps, and fell down. Our time and effort paid off because we learned to walk.

As adults, we tend to be impatient when progress is slow; we want everything to happen now. We are not satisfied until we see (significant) results. A simple lesson that we learned as children that we forget as adults is that some things require many small steps to accomplish.Whether we are trying to finish a never ending project, cope with changing system requirements, or complete a user guide, we must not forget to cheer our small steps. Don't leave the office frustrated by a lack of accomplishment: cheer for what you did accomplish.

No matter what you will do today, it will happen because of small steps that you made towards that goal. Set backs are not failures; they are lessons to be learned to make you stronger and wiser. Any forward momentum is progress. Take pride in your accomplishments, no matter how small. They move you toward your goal. Often it is the journey, comprised of those small steps, that makes our lives rich. The goal is just a destination.