> 7) The best swimmers don’t spend a lot of time dreaming about big goals like winning the Olympics. They concentrate on “small wins”: clearly defined minor achievements that can be rather easily done, but produce real effects.
Recently, I've found my own attitude changing towards focusing on the smaller wins, too, and found myself both happier and more successful in the work that I do. When you're putting together a large puzzle, it's quite difficult to think of it as a picture which is made up of hundreds of little pieces. It's easier to focus on a few large, more manageable chunks of the puzzle, each of which is made up of several small pieces rather than hundreds. This can be applied to many types of challenge.
This isn't new advice, but it's an important reminder not to let the bigger picture cloud your view if you're trying to achieve something.