Celebrating small wins gives them something to repattern our life around. - B. J. Fogg

We live in an aspiration-driven culture that is rooted in instant gratification. We find it difficult to enact or even accept incremental progress.

If only his head shows, then the tide is high. Wearing T-shirts is a common way to declare your identity. Nike sends out T-shirts that say RUNNER. I wear T-shirts that have surfboards or show surf scenes. Because I surf more than one hundred times a year, I don’t feel like a poser; wearing that identity feels natural.

Before this, I had slept terribly most nights when I was worrying about the conference. I hated going to bed — it felt like gearing up for a battle.