Success is an alchemical combination of psychology and brain chemistry. Why limit yourself to the occasional dopamine hit of life milestones like winning a game, a promotion at work, graduation, or marriage? By shifting your mindset from milestone quality to quantity, you can feel successful from microdoses of success in your everyday tasks.

This is not a millennial-only phenomenon. Boomers did it first. Our grandparents gamified their tools and workflows to arm their inner child’s reward system with the strategy of microdosing success. Consider the manual typewriter. For those who’ve never experienced it, here’s a typewriter simulator and quick demonstration video.

It gives instant, intimate sensory feedback of your progress. Each keystroke satisfies with a whish and a whack. The lowly spacebar adds a cadence to the tune. Together, their tempo builds to a crescendo at every nearly complete line with a resounding ding! We thrust the paper forward and return the carriage like a conductor plunging headlong to a symphony’s next sheet of music.

How can you microdose Success? Picture that email you dread writing. Start by setting an achievable goal like a 10-second sprint to just type the greeting and immediately stop. You might even want to go back and celebrate the fact that you even overcame that initial dread. Savor it a little. Come back when you’re ready to sprinkle a few bullet points into an outline.

Not ready to leap into the message body yet? Try plugging in a signoff first. Stuck for ideas? Just use “Thank you” as a placeholder. That’s another small win. Your victory lap could be a stroll to the coffee bar. Don’t grow too attached to the greeting or signature, though. You may change it later and choose “Regards” instead. Whoever you want to be in the moment is who you SHOULD be. You’re the only scorekeeper who matters.

Think of it mathematically. Zero multiplied by anything is zero. Even if the greeting and signature are only 1-2% of the message’s value, 1-2% is infinitely better than 0%. The details are just details. Be content with each bit of content. Every 10-second sprint moves you closer to the goal. Congratulate yourself on collecting those small improvements without worrying the competition has lapped you or the stadium lights are turned off.

**Thanks to Emma for suggesting the microdosing success strategy!