Say what you want about the self-help world, but if there’s one thing they got right, it’s morning routines.

You don’t even need to adopt the industry standard habits either. No 4 a.m. wake-up times or cold showers necessary. A walk would suffice. Or a stretch. Even brewing your coffee a certain way counts as a routine, as long as you commit to it daily.

Why are routines important? Because when there is one constant, every other variable in life becomes more noticeable.

We’re human, after all, and we’re all susceptible to the likes of insomnia, illness, or in my case, constantly making vague references to goat sacrifices.

This is where routines come into play. They help ground us. They’re the one thing that binds our days together, regardless of their contents. That’s where we learn how to perform, despite our feelings.

Feeling tired? You do your morning yoga anyway. Sick? You unfurl that mat. Hungover? Do. The. Downward. Dog.

Once your mind learns it’s stronger than your body, once you gain more faith in yourself, you’ll start taking on bigger tasks. And you continue this trend, knowing that you can keep your promises to self, no matter what life throws at you.

There’s no magic in getting up earlier. No secret sauce to meditations. It’s the cumulative effect of showing up every day—get this—regardless of how you feel.

And it all starts with a simple thing like a five-minute stretch every day.

Or a daily goat sacrifice.

In the game of life, it’s important to play the odds. Maybe you’re born with a shitty hand, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work on improving your chances.

Casinos are rich for a reason. Despite the tiny edge the house has, they still make a killing thanks to volume.

And while your life shouldn’t be compared to how much people spend at blackjack tables, you should know that the tiny improvements you make over time could very well result in a vastly different life.

Sure, banking on that overnight success might be the dream, but which is more likely? Winning the lottery? Or getting that promotion by improving your craft?

Instant success may or may not happen your entire lifetime. But taking small steps towards improvement is very much achievable. In fact, you could do something to improve your life this very moment.

Stack enough of those moments together and you’ll effectively create your own luck. In other words, the habit of collecting small wins increases your chances of winning the lottery.

Even if you don’t, at least you’ll have the spoils of your small wins to fall back on. And I wouldn’t be surprised if those small improvements total up to be more than a lottery’s worth of winnings.