Unlock Joy with One Yellow Note 💥

Chandra’s first day as head pastry chef was supposed to feel like success.

But by 6 a.m., one burnt tray of éclairs filled the kitchen with smoke and his head with self-doubt:

“I’m a failure. I never get anything right.”

All day, even as customers smiled and praised his desserts, he only focused on one complaint: 

someone returned an éclair for being "too sweet." 

That one comment drowned out all the good.

At closing, something caught his eye near the sink-a yellow sticky note stuck on the wall. It read:

“Chef, your lemon-lavender tart reminded me of summers at my grandmother’s. Thank you for making my day.”
—Table 12

That tiny note stopped him. Someone had seen the good. Why couldn’t he?

That night, Chandra did something new. He wrote down every small success from the day—on yellow sticky notes just like the one on the wall:

• “Perfect chocolate glaze”

• “Taught apprentice piping”

• “Team laughed at my joke”

• “Boss said: best sales this week”

By the end, the wall had five more yellow notes. One complaint… but five moments of success.

Every day after that, he added more. The wall grew. The team joined in. Soon, the back kitchen wall was filled with yellow sticky notes, each one a reminder of progress, kindness, or joy.

Moral of the Story

• We all make mistakes, but they are only one part of the story.

• When we focus only on the negative, we forget the full picture.

• A single kind word or one Positive yellow sticky note can shift someone’s whole mindset.

Now, whenever Chandra doubts himself, he looks at that wall of sticky notes and remembers:

You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to keep showing up and notice what’s going right.