I just got back from a fantastic sunny, beach filled vacation and it was amazing! I had time to play, relax, and breathe! And because I allowed myself to slow down, I was able to really reflect on the year and see how much I’ve truly accomplished – for my health and for the life I am proud to be living.
It’s often hard for us, driven and competitive types to do this, but it is so necessary for our health, especially now as we head into one of the more stressful times of the year. Take a minute to list ten things that you have accomplished this year, no matter how small you may think they are.
1) Positivity breeds positivity
Give yourself credit for all that you do every day, whether it’s for your health or your family. The more you pat yourself on the back the more contagious your positive attitude is. People love to be surrounded by happy (shiny) people.
2) Small thing, big impact
Your small accomplishment may not seem like anything to celebrate, but if you looked past yourself and think about what that means for the others in your world, you can begin to see that the little victories do have a domino effect. You hear stories like this in the media, but you should also recognize that they happen in your life every day.
3) Gratitude saves sanity
When you take a look at your list, it will help you gain new perspective on each situation and helps you recognize all of the things in your life to be grateful for. This is something we don’t do often enough. Feeling gratitude regularly changes your overall mindset and makes stressful situations easier to handle. Try it. Take a look at your list and identify all of the things that brought that one thing within reach for you to accomplish. And is there something that you can see now, that was critical to allowing that to be possible?
4) Focus on the future
Looking at the past helps us move toward the future. You now see what is possible for you in one year. Feeling this sense of accomplishment is typically the nudge we need to set new goals and achieve even more next year.
So, this exercise might have been difficult for you and maybe you didn’t even do it. I can tell you that if you struggle with stress during the holiday season it’s a worthwhile exercise to do.
Please share your discoveries below!
Feel good, do what you love,
