Getting into the habit of acknowledging yourself on a daily basis will help you end your day on a positive note and reduce your stress in the process.
One of my insightful LinkedIn connections, Hayden Humphrey, has an effective technique for overcoming our inner critic, which often makes us focus on the negatives instead of the positives of what we have accomplished.
The technique is called “self-acknowledgment” and it has the following steps:
- At the end of each day, as you’re wrapping up work, open a new Word Doc, or pull out a fresh sheet of paper.
- At the top, write: “What I Accomplished Today.”
- Then, list out every single accomplishment of the day starting with “I am proud of myself for…” and don’t underestimate small accomplishments. Go overboard, even as small as “I picked up that cup and put it back in the trash.”
- Repeat as many times as you need to remember that you’re an awesome, capable human being.
Getting into the habit of acknowledging yourself on a daily basis will help you end your day on a positive note and reduce your stress in the process.