Health&Wellbeing
By Chris Platanos
Most people set goals that are too big to win every day, like “get in shape,” “be less stressed” or “find my purpose.”
They sound inspiring—but they’re vague, overwhelming and easy to miss. And when we miss them, we quietly reinforce a story that we’re falling behind. The fact is that we are not falling behind, we are exactly where we are supposed to be.
If you enjoyed this article, Chris Platanos has shared several LTEN Focus on Training articles spotlighting wellbeing. LTEN members can access his previous articles, including:
Proactive Wellbeing, August 2025
Self-Care in 2025: 7 Areas of Focus, February 2025
Cultivating Mindset: Nurturing Growth Personally and Professionally, July 2024
The Core 4: Optimizing Well-Being, October 2023
There’s a simpler way to build momentum: Win the day in three small but meaningful ways — one mental, one physical and one spiritual. When you do that consistently, progress is inevitable.
Let’s break down each of these separately, though they are all interconnected. When one area is not getting the attention it deserves, it impacts us wholistically.
This isn’t about optimization or perfection. It’s about alignment. It allows us to bring our “best self” to our teams and most importantly, to our family. Let’s dive into these three daily wins.
Your mental win is about where your mind goes; where attention goes, energy flows.
Most days, our attention is hijacked by notifications, worry, comparison or unfinished loops. A mental win doesn’t mean eliminating stress; it means choosing one intentional act that strengthens clarity or presence. Is anyone else addicted to Teams’ chat and/or email?
Examples of a daily mental win:
Writing down the most important task in the morning, or evening before.
Ten minutes of focused reading. Did you know that reading 10 pages a day equals 18 books per year?
Journaling a single page to clear mental clutter. Writing three things you are grateful for helps direct your attention to finding things throughout the day that reinforces your gratitude.
Reframing a challenge by asking, “What’s this here to teach me?”
The key is not duration — it’s agency. You’re proving to yourself that your mind is something you guide, not something that drags you around.
When you stack mental wins, you build trust with yourself. Focus stops feeling fragile and starts feeling trained. This becomes a positive reinforcement loop that serves you daily.
Your body is the most honest feedback system you have. It keeps score whether you pay attention or not.
I recently came down with the flu – can anyone else relate? We typically feel that we have many “issues” to tackle until we have a health issue, then we only have one.
A physical win is not about punishment or aesthetics — it’s about respect.
Examples of a daily physical win:
A daily walk outside, especially after a meal to help regulate blood sugar and enhance digestion.
15-30 minutes of strength, mobility or breath-focused movement.
Choosing whole food over convenience once – 15 minutes after a meal, ask yourself how you feel.
Going to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual – incredible data continues to become available on enhancing our sleep quality, including earlier bedtime and timing of last meal.
Notice what’s missing here? Extremes. You don’t need a perfect workout or a flawless diet. You need one signal per day that says, “I take care of this body.”
Physical wins compound quickly because they affect energy, mood, confidence and resilience. When your body feels supported, your mind follows.
Spiritual doesn’t have to mean religion. It means connecting to something larger than your immediate impulses and obligations.
Without this win, life becomes transactional — just tasks, deadlines and noise. A spiritual win anchors you to meaning.
Examples of a daily spiritual win:
Five minutes of stillness or prayer.
Gratitude — written or spoken.
Time in nature with no agenda – enhancing our feeling of interconnectedness.
Reading something that expands perspective rather than feeds urgency.
This win answers a quiet question most people ignore: Why am I doing all of this?
Even brief moments of reflection can shift how you experience the entire day. They turn effort into purpose.
Three wins work because they are:
Simple: Easy to remember.
Balanced: No single area carries the load.
Repeatable: Designed for consistency, not intensity.
On hard days, you might only manage the bare minimum. That still counts. On great days, you may go further — but the standard remains achievable.
Over time, something powerful happens:
Your confidence grows because you keep promises to yourself.
Your identity shifts from “trying” to “someone who shows up.”
Your days feel intentional instead of reactive.
This is how discipline becomes self-respect.
The exact wins don’t matter nearly as much as owning them.
At the start of the day, here are three prompts that might be helpful:
What’s my mental win today?
What’s my physical win today?
What’s my spiritual win today?
At the end of the day, acknowledge them — without judgment. We don’t need a perfect life. We need three honest wins.
Win those daily, and the bigger goals take care of themselves.
Chris Platanos is director of training at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a member of the LTEN Advisory Council and a 2025 LTEN Member of the Year. Email Chris at cplatanos@alnylam.com or connect through linkedin.com/in/chrisplatanos.
