Acknowledging your wins is like cheering after someone scores a goal in a hockey game. If there was no cheering, then it would be difficult to tell who was winning.
Last weekend was not like an ordinary weekend for me. I had decided to get a seminar off the ground. It had been on the ground for a while and I figured if I didn’t pick it up and teach it to people then nobody else would.
Earlier in the week I spoke with a friend of mine (Julian) who suggested we work together. He seemed excited about it. We decided to meet on Saturday morning to kick things off.
On Saturday, Julian and I met and did some catch up. I found out that Julian was dating a girl for the past few months and loving every minute of it. He talked about how much fun he was having with her and how he could just be himself; no holding back. It wasn’t as if he was trying to impress her or lead her to something; they could just be with each other. As he was talking about his girl friend I could see him light up. His facial expressions changed and so did his posture. It was nice to see him so happy.
After we got caught up, we started talking about the seminar. As we were talking about the seminar, Julian said, “How many people do you think we should have at the seminar? The first number that came to mind was 25. I looked at Julian and glanced at the wall. After a few moments I said, “how about 30?” Julian came back with, “That sounds ok, but I think that you’re too comfortable with that number, how about 50?” I was like, “eeee – that makes me feel uncomfortable.” I’m starting to get that knot in my gut, to which he replied, “Well good, then that’s the perfect number.”
Deep down I knew he was right. If we weren’t stretching and getting out of our comfort zone then what was the point. If we weren’t stretching then we were shrinking. We were both (and still are) committed to growing and playing a bigger game so I thought what the heck “life’s a game anyways, why don’t we just play. The more the merrier.”
As we were finishing up our plans, Julian looked at me and said the most amazing thing. He said,
“Steve, I want you to know something; you are a truly amazing person. You truly are. I don’t think you get that. I don’t think you know the impact that you’ve had on the people around you. I just want you to know that you’ve done some amazing things and that you truly inspire me. I just wanted you to know that.”
I was shell shocked. I didn’t know what to say, except thank-you. When I went home that afternoon I kept hearing Julian’s voice in my head acknowledging me over and over again. It was so profound because it wasn’t normal for my minds-ear to keep speaking to me this way. It was a lot nicer than the usual conversation. It was very empowering and I could just feel the energy flow through me as I walked around for the rest of the day. Nothing could go wrong.
After some time I thought to myself, “Yeah, I am a pretty amazing guy and I’ve done some pretty cool things.” It wasn’t my ego-self speaking but a loving, powerful voice that just wanted the best for me. It was very soothing. During that afternoon I felt very grateful for all the things that I have and all the things that I had accomplished.
Acknowledge Yourself
Acknowledging yourself is a self fulfilling prophecy. At first it may seem like you’re lying to yourself. That you’re telling a fib, but the truth is that the more you continue to acknowledge yourself the more you begin to believe it, and when you start to believe it, you will begin to feel it. Once you feel it, it will become real for you and you will feel it some more.
When Julian had acknowledged me, I really felt it. Later in the day, when I was on my own, I kept repeating his voice over and over. It made me tingle inside. This work of recognizing and accepting who I truly am was very powerful. You might want to make this part of your regular routine. Acknowledge yourself for anything you can think of. Celebrate your wins.
Just this morning I paid down a small portion of my line of credit and started jumping around like an idiot and screaming. It felt amazing. It felt good to pay off some of this money. That’s my idea of self-acknowledgement or self-appreciation.
Acknowledge Others
On the same afternoon that I met with Julian, I came home and had dinner with Trish. We we’re just about to sit down and I pulled her aside to tell her something. When she came over, I said,
Steve: Honey, I want to tell you something.
Trish: What is it babe?
Steve: Well I kept thinking about what Julian had said to me today and thought about how amazing he is. He didn’t even need a reason to acknowledge me, he just did it. I also realized how fortunate I am to have the things that I have. How fortunate I am to have you.
Trisha: thanks honey
Steve: I really mean it. You did all this work today to take care of our apartment and prepare this meal and you did it all without anyone asking you to do it, you just did an amazing job.
Trish: thanks
Steve: I also wanted to let you know how amazing a person you are and how lucky I am to have you. Every time you smile, you light up the whole room. I feel so lucky.
It was funny, I wasn’t saying these things to build up brownie points – it wasn’t forced. I was just saying them because I felt like it. I didn’t need a reason. It just felt like the right thing to do.
Acknowledge the Universe
In the past four months I’ve written two articles for a local magazine, Confidence Bound. Their mission is to build confidence through communication.
This week I received an email from the Editor of Confidence Bound. He told me that my latest article was posted on their website and that they had posted a link to my blog. The Editor also encouraged me to right a paragraph about my blog to submit with my next article.
Man, was I ever pumped to hear that. Why? Because this magazine distributes 20,000 copies to homes and business locally which means there is a larger community of people who will have the opportunity to read my blog. Maybe these readers will learn something new or even better, learn something about themselves.
When I got the good news I started calling up friends and family to let them know. This is my way of acknowledging Mr. Big Guns or in other words the Universe. By acknowledging the Universe I’m telling him/her that I want more of what I just got. Acknowledging the Universe is my way of saying thank-you, now please send me more of that. See the Law of Attraction for more on this and to learn more about gratitude.
Lack of Acknowledgement
If you don’t acknowledge yourself then how will you know that you’ve done a good job? There have been many occasions where I have done something really awesome but I didn’t acknowledge or own it. I might say, “Well that was really good, but that wasn’t good enough.”
Sometimes I don’t even see it. I could have saved an old lady from drowning in a river and would’ve been like, damn what else can I do to help, is there anything else? I don’t feel like I did enough. See the thing is that it’s never enough. This sort of thinking is also a self fulfilling prophecy. There never seems to be enough of anything and then there never is. The key is start acknowledging now and to remember all the great things you have done and then you will feel like it is enough. You will feel grateful for what you have now.
Remember, you own the keys to acknowledge the best in you.
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