Small win

In January 2026 I left my stressful and high paying corporate job. From February 2026 I started working as a freelancer. I had joined a couple of platforms from where I had been doing small freelance projects. This project had been short term and were paying me just fine.

But there was one of the major of platforms for which I was eagerly waiting. At that platform I had submitted my application for various projects and roles. For some of the projects I got selected but either the project did not arrive or it was shorter than the company's expectations. Due to this fact despite being selected I was unable to work on any of their projects.

It was the last week of July 2026. I received an email from that platform informing that a big project had come to them. They had seen my previous applications and hence approached to me before approaching more professionals. It was an urgent requirement and hence they wanted me to start onboarding immediately. I read through the project requirement and signed up for the onboarding.

As my onboarding got completed I was told by the project manager to complete the tasks on the project. I read through the project guidelines and completed the task. Since I had given my best efforts for completing the task they got approved within the span of one day. After that I was told that the pay out would be processed within the next 15 days.

It was the beginning of the September 2026, when I had been eagerly waiting for the payout. While I was completing other work on another platform my phone buzzed. The text message indicated that the payout has been processes for the project that I had a completed. The pay out was much higher than what I had expected. I was so delighted with this success that happy tears rolled on to my face. This was my first successful high payout project as a freelancer. I was happy and decided that I am going to celebrate this win.

One evening I decided to go for a film. I watch the film and at that moment I decided that I was going to celebrate my success. I went to the food court of the mall. I ordered a burger and coffee to celebrate my success. I brought my own treat to a table. This was not my first time having a burger and a coffee but somehow it was feeling special. It felt like a big win towards my freelancing journey and hence even a simple treat felt like a royal treat.

When I took the first bite of the burger I could feel that it tested better. Even the sip of the coffee felt different on my tongue. I knew it felt different and special because I was tasting my success. That experience also made me wonder why I had never celebrated small wins in my life. Celebration of a small success gave me the immense pleasure and motivation to carry on with the freelancing journey.

That was the exact moment when I decided that after completion of each project I am going to celebrate it with a small treat. It would not matter if it is a small cupcake or a chocolate but it was going to be my ritual after completion of each and every project. This entire experience felt like I had found a key to live a peaceful and happy life.