I have a lovely supervisor at my part-time job who always ends our coaching sessions asking me to say something that I appreciate. I rattle off all kinds of things pretty easily. Then she asks me to say something I appreciate about myself and I always have to overcome a little bit of discomfort before I begin.
I have started this practice with some of my coaching clients and I notice that they squirm a bit too when they have to appreciate themselves. Some are so hesitant that the only way they will do it is if they write appreciations down on a piece of paper and keep it to themselves. They are not quite ready to say it out loud or admit it to me yet.
What happens inside of your mind if I ask you to list things that you appreciate about yourself right now?
Everyone might be somewhere different on the spectrum between not knowing what to say to being able to say things out loud. Just try to notice where you are without judgement. It is a place to begin.
Appreciating yourself is key to success in any part of life. When you appreciate yourself, others can feel that and often respond in ways that show you that they appreciate you too.
Appreciating yourself lets you know that, no matter what, you will be fine because you got you and you are pretty awesome.
Appreciating yourself is loving yourself and, when you love yourself, your words and behaviors reflect that out into the world. You teach others how to treat you and how they should be treated. And the world needs more of that.
It’s not a one-and-done thing, though. It is a practice. And a practice always starts somewhere.
So on this day of Thanks-Giving, yes, please have gratitude for all the beautiful things life has given you, but don’t forget to give thanks for you too. For those who could use more practice, don’t be afraid to try it every day. You can keep practicing with me :)
Let’s give a try, shall we? What do you appreciate about yourself right here in this moment?
If you could use some one-to-one attention and care on your path to appreciating yourself more in order to become more successful on your creative path, we would love to talk to you about our Creative Coaching!