How far have you come?
Some days I get so caught up in the goals and things I haven't reached, that I don't always take the time to recognize and appreciate what I HAVE accomplished. Some things are little goals and accomplishments that other people won't notice and some are much bigger. If you sat down and started writing out all of the things you have accomplished, how would that make you feel? Would you feel different about where you are right now? I started thinking about this last week and realized that several things came up for me. I'll share some of these with you!
1. I was putting on a shirt today and I realized that I don't usually put a tank top on underneath my shirts and other tank tops anymore. To you that may seem small and meaningless, but to me that is pretty big. Why is it big? For the longest time I can remember looking in the mirror, as I put a few layers on, thinking I can't wait for the day when I feel good enough and happy enough with my body to wear a tank top or shirt without another tank top to suck in my stomach a little bit more. To me, this shows that I have come a long way in accepting and loving myself, as well as strengthening my body and mind. It doesn't mean my body is perfect, but I do see my body in a new light and with more compassion.
2. I have learned a ton this year at work and solved a lot of problems, while working through an upgrade on the application I support (I work in IT for my full time day job). I had a goal to expand my knowledge this year and I have exceeded that if you ask me. I was supposed to be more of a helper on this project and became the one doing most of the work from set up to cut over and I definitely did not know what I was doing. It challenged me and pushed me in ways I could not imagine. Some days were awful and some days were OK, but you know what? I can support the users and application a lot better now and I am learning something new regularly. I also see how I have increased my leadership skills and asked for help when I needed it more often because of this project.
3. I have had a big change in confidence. This one is HUGE for me because I cannot tell you how much my confidence has changed in the past year to 2 years. Things I attribute this to are starting and working on my doTERRA business, going to yoga more, my essential oils, a lot of personal growth, neurotools for re-training my brain and especially finally understanding my own worth and that I am good enough, smart enough and more. I feel confident teaching people, leading a team, standing up for myself, setting the bar for how people treat me and even saying what I need.
4. I accept help now. Years ago I remember feeling bad when my mom or someone would offer to buy me dinner, offer to help with my kids or even clean something at my house. Now, I know that I cannot possibly do it all and do it all well and many times I need help or welcome the help to give myself a break. It's not being lazy or selfish to take a break or need help with your kids, your house or anything else. It's so much better for you and everyone around you when you are more calm and put together versus being frazzled, overwhelmed and stressed because you can't get everything done. Ask for help or start noticing when people offer and say YES as often as possible.
5. I have released most of my fear of missing out. So many times in the past I remember being extremely bothered when I wasn't invited to something or I wasn't able to go to something that our friends were going to. I would definitely describe it as the fear of missing out. Now I find myself realizing that I don't want to do every single thing me or my family is invited to nor can I do that if I wanted to. If it doesn't feel right, it will add a lot of stress to add it into my day or I just don't want to do it because it will affect me in a negative way, I have no problem saying no most of the time now. It feels good to say no when you have set your boundaries and know that you cannot take on more. It also feels good to know that I don't want to be invited to everything and I don't want to go to things that don't interest me, so I am not bothered if I'm not invited to something that my friends know isn't my thing.
6. I no longer feel obsessive about needing to travel to different places (or as I have begun to see it as running away from my life). Sure, I LOVE to travel to new places and can never get enough of being on a beautiful beach, but the NEED for this has calmed down significantly. I feel like I get to go on vacation and travel and it is natural and fun. I don't have a countdown for months in advance and pine for those few days away from normal everyday life and my job. I am more content with my life and know that the things that I want to change in my life will change as I change, grow and work for it.
7. I took a big leap and signed up for yoga teacher training (starting next week)! I have been wanting to do this for a long time, so finally being comfortable with myself, confident in saying that I need and want to do, acting on my (healthy) desires and taking another step towards my dreams. This goes perfectly with my desire to share natural health and emotional health through essential oils and I will be able to share this with my family, friends, pass it on to my kids and help change even more lives. As you can tel, I am super excited! PS - Not everyone will understand your dreams and that's completely OK because they are YOUR dreams. "No one gets to tell you how big your dreams can be" - Rachel Hollis.
These are just some of the many accomplishments that I have from the past year or 2 and I am seeing just how far I have come. This is especially helpful when I look at myself and think you're not where you want to be yet or where you're supposed to be yet. It is so easy to see what we don't have yet, where we haven't reached our goals yet and what is still left to be accomplished, but what if we start reminding ourselves more often of how far we have come and how much of a difference we are making?
What accomplishments and goals have you reached?
