"The greatest discovery of my generation is that man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude of mind." -- William James

Alive & Well Archives

February 2007

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TODAY'S QUOTE:  "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live"

                                        --Norman Cousins

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TODAY'S TOPIC:  Acknowledgement

When you accomplish something – a dream, goal, chore or errand – do you congratulate and acknowledge yourself?  Do you celebrate?  Or do you just expect yourself to complete these things and don’t even acknowledge when you finish?

If you’re like most people, you do not take time to acknowledge yourself.  You get upset if you don’t accomplish your “to do” list, chores and goals, but you hardly pay attention when you complete things.  Why is that?  Would you be friends with someone who berates you when things don’t get done but doesn’t say anything nice when you accomplish things?  Of course not!   So why would you allow yourself to do that?

When you do not acknowledge yourself, you make it harder to move forward with additional chores, goals and dreams.  You make it hard to feel fulfilled and feel like you’ve made progress. 

Let me give you an example.  I worked with a client yesterday who has a huge sales goal.  I had her visualize the completion of the goal; her visualization was so real that it felt like she had actually achieved the goal.  I asked her what she felt and what she said to herself upon completing the goal. 

You would think she would congratulate herself.  But she didn’t.  Instead, she said, “Tomorrow is another day.  I have to start all over again.”  Wow! I was blown away.  She felt no fulfillment.  There was very little congratulations or happiness.  She also did not feel much incentive or excitement to go after the next goal. 

On the other hand, my friend told me about a camping trip she took where she felt fulfilled and successful.  Do you know what she did to feel that way?  She cleaned up after dinner.  She congratulated herself on that and felt good. 

How could she feel fulfilled cleaning, while my client is not fulfilled making a huge goal?  Simple – my friend acknowledged herself and what she had done.  Even though cleaning up seems so minor, she felt pleasure in doing it. 

You see, we need encouragement to propel us forward and to feel fulfilled.  I’m not suggesting you should stop and not go after the next big goal.  But if you want to live a fulfilling, empowered life, acknowledge yourself.  Celebrate all your successes, whether your success is from emptying the dishwasher or from achieving a huge business goal.  Acknowledging yourself propels you to move forward and gain momentum.  Congratulating and acknowledging yourself breeds self-esteem, self-love and pleasure, three key things to having the life of your dreams. 

Take time today and every day to acknowledge yourself.  I have my clients log at least five things they acknowledge about themselves every night.   

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Coaching Challenge

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Every day for the next week, list at least five things you acknowledge about yourself.