Give Yourself a Hard Time Much?

Most people focus their energy on accomplishing daily and weekly ‘To Do’ lists.  I’d say for a large percentage of people there is always something left at the end of the week on the ‘To Do’ list that never got accomplished.  How does that make you feel?  These words come to mind: Disappointed, frustrated, stressed.  It may make you feel pathetic, like a failure.

For starters, most of us put too much on our lists.  We expect too much of ourselves and when we don’t live up to our high expections we give ourselves a hard time.  Setting unrealistic goals can lead to great frustration!  You don’t want to lower your standards but you also don’t want to end each week beating yourself up for all you didn’t accomplish.  So what can you do?

The Solution

This isn’t the Be All and End All of solutions but it’s a ‘goodey.’  I’m going to guess you are prone to giving yourself a hard time for all the areas you lack in.  Most days you probably feel like you’re not measuring up or you’re not enough.  Do you tend to focus on the areas you could improve instead of acknowledging all the areas where YOU ROCK?  Most of us need to give ourselves credit for what we have accomplished and what we are currently accomplishing.

Face it.  You DO rock.  Own it.  Considering all of your weaknesses and moments you’d like to forget, you still rock!

The Grateful Finished List!!

I’m not saying, “Throw away your To Do list!”  I am suggesting that you create an equally important list that will help you shift some of your focus to what IS complete and what you ARE accomplishing.  A past client of mine named this list and I think the name fits perfectly.  She used the list to help her remember that her actions were making a difference, no matter how small the progression seemed.  Your accomplishments can still be fantastic ones even if they seem quite small.

This list will make your day more fun and help you take more notice of what you are accomplishing.

Your list might look something like this:

*Spent half an hour playing with my kids

*Exercised for 30 minutes

*Sat still and relaxed (without feeling guilty) for fifteen minutes

*Prepared a healthy meal for dinner even though I got home late from work or was exhausted from a night shift

*Started planning a vacation

*Decided to not let co-worker or family member cause me to be stressed out today.  Took a different perspective.

This list could go on and on.  No accomplishment is too small to add.  The accomplishments others may never see are sometimes the ones that need to be acknowledged and celebrated the most.

Ask your kids, spouse, friends or co-worker to give you a high-five and share one of your accomplishments with them.  It’s not bragging.  Give them a high-five for all they are accomplishing!  People need more recognition.  I’m sending you a high-five right now!!

You’re awesome.  Don’t forget it!

Keep Shining,

Amy