Ever notice how once you vow to work on something about yourself, you start to become more aware of it and notice other people engaging in that very behavior that you’re trying to avoid? Yep, that’s how the universe works….I know this is true, and yet it still amazes me every time it happens, as though it’s the very first time I’m coming to that realization.
Something that I’ve been actively working on is acknowledging pride in my accomplishments. The type-A perfectionist in me has always struggled with being “good enough.” Rather than seeing my accomplishments for what they truly are, and taking a second to let it soak in and feel good about myself, I tend to immediately move on to the next thing the second after I achieve a goal, without really acknowledging that what I just did was a big deal.
So I guess I shouldn’t have been taken by surprise when I started noticing the little things I’ve heard some of my clients and students say lately, which indicates to me that this way of thinking is a widespread problem. After congratulating one client on their perfect squat form (fitness peeps: please tell me that you also completely geek out and probably scare everyone in the gym with your enthusiasm when you see someone who was struggling with squats finally get it, or is that just me?), their immediate reply was, “I feel like my core strength still sucks though.” I gave another student a compliment in Zumba last week and pretty much got dismissed with the wave of a hand and, “Oh, I’m soooo uncoordinated in this class.”
In both instances I stared back incredulously and said something to the effect of, are you kidding me? Be proud of yourself, right here, right now. What you’ve just done is an accomplishment, and you should soak it in, and appreciate how far you’ve come. Maybe not quite so articulately, but you get the point. I think that constantly negating our achievements can set us up for vicious cycle of never being happy with where we are, which can be detrimental to anyone, whether it’s related to health and fitness goals or our lives in general.
Of course I know that shifting this way of thinking is easier said than done, so I thought that maybe if I shared a few things that I’m really proud of right now, it would encourage you to do the same. Because you have nothing to gain from not recognizing that you are pretty awesome, and you are capable of achieving some pretty awesome things. It doesn’t matter how big or how small it is – whether it’s doing 1 real push-up, or landing a huge business deal – taking pride in ourselves and what we’re capable of is only going to make our lives better. Don’t focus on what you think you can’t do, focus on what you just did. Make that your motivation.
I’ll start: I’m really proud of the fact that, in this past month, I feel like I’ve really grown as an instructor and a trainer. After doing this for almost nine months now, I finally feel like I’m starting to hit my stride and gain confidence in my abilities. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve been able to fit in most of my own workouts recently (even if it’s only 15 minutes) despite maintaining a ridiculously packed schedule each day. I’m also proud that I made the time to chat with you guys today on this little blog, after neglecting it for a few weeks!
Now it’s your turn. What are you proud of right now? Feel free to toot your own horn in the comments below, or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter!