Write the Receipt
When to use it: Right after something lands — the demo that worked, the tricky message that got the reply you wanted, the day you got through a full to-do list. The window where you’d normally think “nice” and move straight on.
Why it’s here: There are two reasons the good stuff slides off. One is that the brain holds onto problems harder than wins — bad sticks, good slips. The other is subtler: when something goes well, people are quick to hand the credit to luck, timing, or someone else, and quick to keep the blame when it doesn’t. So even the wins you notice don’t get filed under “things I did.” Writing one specific line — what you did that helped — interrupts both. And unlike a feeling, a note is still there next week, when you’ve forgotten you were ever competent.
Do this:
- Name the good thing in a few words. “Client signed off.” “Got through the whole list.” “Said the hard thing calmly.”
- Add one line on your part in it. Not “got lucky” — what did you do? “Prepped the three objections.” “Sent it before I could overthink it.” “Stayed quiet and let them finish.”
- Put it somewhere you’ll stumble on it again — a notes app, a running file, the back of a notebook. One line is enough.
You’re not building a brag document. You’re leaving a receipt for the version of you who, on a flat Tuesday, is convinced nothing ever works.