How To Improve Motivation and Momentum With a TADA LIST

I’m a big believer that celebrating is motivating. I also believe that taking the time to recognize the awesome things that happen each week generates momentum.

As Business Owners, we often need to be reminded that we don’t always have to accomplish huge things to move forward. It’s the little things, over time, that make the biggest impact.

Years ago, while home from college and visiting my dad in his real estate office, I watched him write down everything he had done that day. From phone calls to business transactions to marketing tasks, he wrote it all down.

I didn’t really understand what he was doing, but it did stick in my head that it’s just as important to write down what you’ve done as it is to write down what you need to do.

The idea continued to grow. I love seeing a checked-off to-do list, but watching the list grow with new tasks and lines crossing out what I’d accomplished made for a big mess. So, instead, I started writing a “Ta-Da” list at the end of the day. Each item on the list was no longer an item on my to-do list, but a “Ta-Da! Look what I did!”

I started sharing this concept with women I met at networking events and the “Ta-Da” list became somewhat well-known among my contacts.
Then, I had a client who changed things.

I had a client who had a difficult time maintaining her motivation and generating momentum. She couldn’t see all the great things she was accomplishing in her business and this caused her business to stall a bit. I encouraged her to start keeping her own Ta-Da list, but to make it visual so she could see it every day.

This client used sticky notes on her office wall to help. She wrote each item she needed to complete on a sticky note and placed them under a “To Do” heading. When she finished the task, she moved the note to another heading labeled “Ta-Da!”

Within a short time, this client began to feel more motivated and momentum was improving. Even though her to-do list kept growing (as it does in business), the “Ta-Da” list grew as well. She was energized, realizing that, “if I’ve done all of that, then I can do this too!”

So every Friday, I started to encourage all clients to write a TADA LIST. All the things they’ve done, all the cool/fun/exciting things that have happened in the last week, and everything else from the smallest thing to those super huge things. They all count!

After a few months, I realized that while it was motivating and it was improving momentum for my clients there was a missed opportunity. Weekly TADA lists were taking lots of time to write and a bit of productivity was being jeopardized.

So, I change it. Now my clients write a daily TADA list. It means we now have daily motivation instead of holding it all till the end of the week. It also focuses on what has been done at the end of each day and not just on what needs to be done. This means we're forward-focused and forward momentum is easier to create.

I encourage you to write a DAILY TADA LIST too.

Be sure to include the smallest things you do all the time (like getting groceries or doing your dishes) in those huge things (like bringing on a new client, being asked to be on a podcast, or publishing a new blog post). Everything counts. And it doesn’t have to be strictly business-related. It can be life, marriage, friendship—everything counts because everything in your life impacts your business.

And for even more power, share that TADA List in public too. Here’s why:

→ We all deserve to pat ourselves on the back BUT we also deserve to have others pat us on the back too. We all work hard and, too often, no one sees all the work because we work alone.

→ Seeing others’ lists can push us! We all have times where we want to slack off, but something happens when you see others pushing through and you see things you want to have or do on someone else’s list. We realize that if she can do it, well, you can too!

→ Often something on someone else’s list should also be on ours. We look at others and think, “If she thinks that’s awesome, why don’t I?” We don’t give ourselves enough credit until someone else gives herself credit.

→ Looking back at all we’ve accomplished in a week is a great motivator to get ready for next week. At the same time, knowing that you should post something public is more motivation to accomplish more—so our list is even longer!

So? What's on your TADA LIST Today? Take 5 minutes and jot down your own daily TADA List.