What Does It Really Mean to Create Victory in the Moment?

Victory in the moment doesn't always equate to winning. It's not about being the loudest, the most successful, or the most unshaken person in the room.

It is a decision—made fresh every single day— to be the fullest version of yourself to meet the moment at hand.

It may sound simple, but it is not easy.

The intentional state of ongoing global trauma is by design. It keeps us embroiled in rage towards ourselves and each other. Technology is the tool of distraction and division. The antidote is learning to use the power of choice to create victory in any moment. This approach is the polar opposite of the intentional division.

Our brains are wired to defend and protect by any means necessary. When the world is on fire (sometimes literally), the mind aligns with what it knows best—fight or flight. Practically speaking, it can be replaying what went wrong, who failed us, and what should have been different. We digress to our previous lived experience or the perception of it that is most familiar or comforting. On the other extreme, we sprint into an imagined catastrophic future. Either scenario strips us of the moment and robs us of the power to change both our thoughts and perceptions. The price we pay is the loss of our power.

Victory then becomes the thought and action taken in the next sixty seconds. Nothing more, nothing less.

Why This Is More Important Right Now Than It Has Ever Been

Here's what I know about turbulent times: they don't reward the people who wait for stability before they show up fully. They reward the people who refuse to outsource their agency to the confusion.

Think about the families in Lagos right now, watching bulldozers tear through the only homes they've ever known and still choosing to fight back through the courts, the community, and their refusal to disappear. That is victory in the moment. Not a final win — a choice, made in real time, to exercise power where they have it.

Think about every person navigating economic pressure, political upheaval, or personal crisis who still rises up, still leads, and still loves—not because conditions are perfect but because they decided.

That decision is available to you too. Every morning. Every hour.

The Three Pillars of Momentary Victory

1. Ruthless Presence

Ever look up from doom scrolling and realize an hour or more has passed? You then say, Where did the time go? You can’t create victory in the moment; you're not actually in it. Put down the doom scroll. Close the tab. Plant your feet firmly on the ground, sit up straight, and take three breaths that land in your body. — let go of what might be true tomorrow, not what was true last year. Notice what is true right now. 

Being present takes practice in our ever-distracted digital world. It no longer comes naturally. It must be chosen repeatedly, especially when the world seems to be at its loudest.

2. Define a Win That's Available

Global problems are real. You are also not going to solve them in the next fifteen minutes. So instead of measuring your victory against the size of the crisis, ask a simpler question: What is the best version of this moment? What can I do right now to create a win today?

Can I compliment someone waiting in line for coffee? Is it a conversation handled with grace instead of reactivity? Maybe it’s meditating while someone is loudly and selfishly on a speakerphone, or setting a 30-minute timer on a deadline that seems unmanageable. Sometimes it’s as simple as making the bed and doing the dishes.

Small wins are not consolation prizes. They are the architects of extraordinary lives.

3. Act From Your Values, Not Your Fear

Fear is another intentional tool. It’s a divisive protocol that has been used for centuries. It keeps us disoriented and frustrated. Fear activates reactivity. Reactivity disrupts our nervous system and keeps us small and indifferent.

Your values don't change because the geopolitical landscape does. What you stand for today—integrity, service, love, and excellence—is what you stood for before you read this morning's headlines. Anchor your next action to your core values, not to the moment's anxiety, as that anxiety is sure to pass.

A Note to Leaders Reading This Blog

If you lead people—a team, a family, a community, or a classroom—this message is especially for you. The people around you are carrying more than they're saying. The global uncertainty is landing on their bodies, their focus, and their confidence. They don't need you to pretend everything is fine. They need you to model what it looks like to function with dignity inside imperfect conditions.

That is the leadership the world needs right now. Compassion, inquiry, and patience will allow space for people to rise to the occasion. A leader who chooses victory in the moment even when the answers are unclear.

You Are Not Too Small for This Moment

What seems to be missing in society at large is the realization of the immense personal power of every human being. Respecting the dignity and individual mission of every life is how we will transform our environment, our communities, and the world. One of the most damaging narratives of the moment is that individual agency doesn't matter in a state of global trauma. Every action or cause we make has an equal reaction or effect on the world.

The world is shaped by millions of individual moments and the choices made within them. Every conversation you have today that is honest rather than evasive. Every time you choose courage over comfort. Every act of steadiness when panic would be easier.

These are not small things. They are the world, changing. Create victory in this moment.