The journey of a self-published author isn’t easy. I know, because I’m one myself. Over the last three years, however, I’ve learned that this one thing in particular makes the road easier, and that’s where this one goal comes in. The goal you should consider adopting is keeping track of all your wins throughout the year. Every author has them; it’s just a matter of looking for them. I’m planning to make a note of my wins this year, even more intentionally than in previous years. I’ll be taking things a step further by writing them down. I’ve created a tracker to help with this. You could do the same. It could be a simple monthly calendar dedicated to this purpose. You could print the pages or save them on the computer. The benefit of a tracker like this is that when the year is over, you can look back and see everything you accomplished. One or two victories may not seem like much, but when you add them up over the course of the year, a bigger picture emerges, and you realize how far you’ve come.

You may like the idea of tracking wins, but perhaps you aren’t sure what counts. Let me give you a few examples. The obvious wins are things like receiving a new book review or your first sale of the year. Even if the royalties for that sale are minimal, it should be acknowledged. Other wins include earning multiple sales in a day or receiving your first sale on a new publishing platform. Alternatively, you might reach a particular number of sales on a platform and unlock certain capabilities like access to an email list, or perhaps a reader emailed you to tell you how much they liked their book, or you had a podcast interview that went well. Maybe you made a publishing decision that isn’t industry standard, and it worked out fine. These are all examples of wins you could include on your tracker and things I’ve personally experienced. When I’ve reflected on them, they helped me know I was on the right track and boosted my confidence.

What else makes this goal valuable to an indie author is that it’s a sometimes lonely road. If we learn to encourage ourselves with a tool like this, we are less apt to stay discouraged for long. There are other ways to do that, of course, but this is one of the simplest strategies, and I know from experience that it works. Just like there are other ways to build ourselves up, there are also many other goals indie authors could adopt in 2026. However, I trust it’s clear why writing down all of your wins throughout the year, big or small, is worth considering. I’ve already experienced a confidence boost from this strategy, and it’s only the first week of the New Year. It makes me excited to see what the rest of the year will bring. I imagine the same could be true for you. You certainly have nothing to lose by trying it and so much to gain.