1. When Progress Looks Like Nothing
Every time I have rebuilt my life, it started with something tiny: washing one cup, writing one line, walking one block. Micro habits made me feel capable again, before I believed I was.
I used to think transformation came from grand gestures. Quitting a job. Moving countries. Finishing degrees. But the truth is, it is the smallest decisions that quietly hold your life together when everything else feels uncertain.
This is the second story in The Long Game — my series about the quiet moments that shape everything.
This season, progress does not look impressive. There is no dramatic pivot or breakthrough moment. Just a slower, steadier rhythm that rebuilds trust in yourself one ordinary day at a time.
When I left South Africa, I promised myself I would learn to recognise progress even when it did not feel like it. Still, I slipped back into the familiar loop: perfectionism dressed up as ambition, urgency disguised as drive. My life looked fine on paper. A stable job. Another degree underway. A plan for what was next. But emotionally, I was running uphill in sand.
This time, I did not want another sprint. I wanted stillness. I wanted space.
It is the first time I have been deliberate about that. Slowing down before I burn out. Choosing reflection and mindfulness before my body forces me to. Hypertension will do that to you. It taught me that health and discipline are not opposites; they rely on each other. It turns “I should rest” into “I must change”.
And yet, underneath the exhaustion, something softer was forming. A quiet curiosity about what might happen if I treated discipline as a form of kindness.
2. Operation 66: The Lazy Overachiever Experiment
On 20 October, I started Operation 66, my personal 66-day experiment in momentum, not perfection. The idea first came from a TikTok creator, @angelinanicollle, who launched the #Operation66 challenge as a gentler alternative to 75 Hard.
The original #Operation66 post by creator @angelinanicollle explained it best — small, consistent changes, not punishment disguised as discipline.
You can watch her original post here:
@angelinanicollle WINTER ARC 🚨⏰‼️#operation66 #winterarc #winterarcchallenge #75hard #75hardchallenge ♬ original sound – Angelina
The premise is simple: it takes around 66 days to turn a habit into more of a lifestyle. I had seen the Operation 66 challenge floating around online and decided to try it.
I wasn’t interested in discipline as punishment. I wanted to see if this gentler structure could create stronger results. My version is not “grind until you glow.” It is softer. I call it the Lazy Overachiever Edition: doing the work, but doing it smarter and gentler.
The rules looked like this:
- 🥗 Nourishment: 90% nutrient-dense meals, 10% joy foods.
- 💧 Hydration: 500 ml of water first thing in the morning, then aim for 4 litres total.
- 💪 Movement: 45 to 60 minutes of exercise, plus 15 minutes of stretching, yoga, or mobility.
- 💜 Passion: 30 to 60 minutes on a personal goal, hobby, or creative project.
- 🧘🏾♀️ Mindfulness: 5 to 15 minutes of meditation, breathwork, or journaling.
- 📵 Self-care: No screens in the first and last hour of the day, and a maximum of 60 minutes of social media.
It is not a quick fix. It is a quiet experiment in self-trust, a promise to show up for myself mentally, physically, and creatively every single day.
Let us see what 66 days of showing up can do.
3. The First Mornings
The first week felt strange. My body was tired from years of “all or nothing.” Go hard or do not bother.
I woke up that first Monday with my usual to-do list buzzing in my head. Instead of rushing to open my laptop, I filled a glass with cold water, sat on my balcony, and listened to the birds chirping as the city hummed to life in the distance.
Phnom Penh mornings are loud: motorbikes, street vendors, the hum of heat building before mid-day. I took a sip and, for the first time in months, did not scroll. That was the hard part. I caught myself unconsciously drifting towards my phone or in the act of absent-mindedly unlocking my screen.
The balcony meditation wasn’t revolutionary or even productive. But it was different.
That small act, drinking water before caffeine and choosing quiet over chaos, became the first line in a new kind of progress report. One where effort mattered more than outcome. This new routine became the catalyst for my morning breathwork meditation time.
4. Tiny Wins, Big Shifts
One of my goals during Operation 66 is to rebuild my reading habit. I already enjoy reading, but I fall into long slumps where I do not pick up a book for months, or disappear into fantasy worlds as a means of dissociating. This time, I wanted reading to be part of my self-improvement, not just my escapism.
So I picked up Atomic Habits by James Clear, looking for a system that could help me build steadier habits for this challenge. (That’s an affiliate link, which just means I may earn a small commission if you decide to grab a copy. No pressure, it’s simply a book that genuinely helped me.)
There is a story in the book about the British Cycling Team.
For decades, they were unremarkable: no major medals, no records, nothing that hinted at dominance. Then their coach, Dave Brailsford, introduced the concept of marginal gains, improving everything by just 1%.
Seat comfort. Tyre grip. Sleep quality. Nutrition. Even how they washed their hands.
Individually, those changes seemed pointless. Too small. But compounded over time, they transformed the team. Within a few years, they dominated both the Olympics and the Tour de France.
That story stuck with me because it felt familiar.
My own life has been shaped by a hundred micro habits and small pivots that didn’t look like progress at the time—saying no earlier. Drinking the water before the coffee. Writing one paragraph instead of waiting for “the right mood.”
Momentum sneaks up on you like that. Motivation is loud; it wants witnesses.
Momentum is quiet. It builds while you are busy doubting yourself.
5. The Shift From Motivation to Momentum
That is the real magic.
Motivation depends on emotion. It needs you to feel ready, inspired, or confident. Momentum does not care how you feel. It only asks that you start.
Each day of Operation 66 has been a quiet reminder that self-trust is not born from big breakthroughs. It is built from micro moments. Drinking the water. Shutting the laptop. Finishing a page even when it is messy.
Those small, deliberate motions are what make life steadier. They blur the edges of stress and rebuild the rhythm of being present.
These days, I try not to measure progress in milestones or metrics. I measure it in motion: the calm hum of consistency, the peace that comes from tracking effort instead of perfection.
Because when you show up for yourself in small ways long enough, it stops feeling like effort. It becomes part of who you are. It becomes identity.
Maybe progress looks less like fireworks and more like this: a quiet morning, a glass of water, a page turned in a book you almost did not pick up. Nothing dramatic. Just different.
6. Your Turn
If you have ever felt stuck between starting and succeeding, try this:
Track one small win per day this week. Not the best thing you did, just something that nudged you forward.
That glass of water.
That message you finally sent.
That fifteen-minute walk you almost skipped.
They all count. That’s how momentum begins, not through effort, but through repetition.
By the end of the week, you might realise something has been building under the surface, something slow, sustainable, and real.
The British Cycling Team did not transform overnight. Neither will we.
But each quiet decision adds up to a story worth rereading.
Tiny wins do not look like much.
Until suddenly, they are everything.
The British Cycling Team did not transform overnight. Neither will we.
But each quiet decision adds up to a story worth rereading.
Tiny wins do not look like much.
Until suddenly, they are everything.
If you’re following The Long Game series, this builds on the first story, the one about how a single sentence from my dad in 1996 shaped my entire career.
Freebie: The Momentum Tracker
I built this habit tracker because I got tired of productivity tools that look like spreadsheets from tax season.
This one is visual, simple, and actually fun to use. Every time you tick off a habit, your digital sunflowers grow.
Whether you’re rebuilding your routine or chasing long-term goals, this tracker helps you see progress that actually feels good. This simple daily and monthly log will help you notice your small wins and build your own version of steady progress, one checkmark at a time.
🌼 Ready to start? Get your Momentum Tracker (Free or Pay What You Want) and start growing your momentum today, one tiny win at a time.
