Give Yourself Credit

We have been trained to recognize our "failures" and things we don't do well. We often forget to give ourselves credit for the progress we've made. Instead of being proud of cutting back to 5 cigarettes a day we beat ourselves up for not quittng altogether.

I was reminded of this yesterday morning in the locker room at the gym. A woman came in ranting and raving about how ridiculous the Democrat and Chronicle is because she needs to have her paper and it was not delivered by the time she left for the gym. She announced to the entire room about why she needed the paper and how unacceptable it was that when she called the D&C, they told her they would deliver it the next day.

I was really uncomfortable with this rant, and kept thinking about how insignificant and unimportant the problem was. I was starting to compare it to real things that may warrant becoming so upset. Then, I thought about it, and realized that ten years ago I may have been that upset about something so insignificant (although I would never yell it out to people I didn't know---but the feelings would have been the same). I can't pinpoint the process of me relaxing about the stuff I have no control over, but I think I'm pretty good at it now.

What do you do better now that you didn't excel at in the past? Do you eat fewer refined carbs? Smoke less? Work out more? Manage stress better? Have better manners on the road? Drink more water? You get the idea...

Try making a list of all the things you do well (or better) compared to how you did them in the past.