The only time you should look back, is to see how far you have come… Anon

I don’t know about you but I know just how easy it is to forget to stay focused on how far I have come. Our whole culture is set to focus on what we lack, what we haven’t done, and especially at finding fault with ourselves far too easily.

I know there isn’t a person in this world, who is as hard on me as I am,I am the one who knows when I am lazy, when I don’t live up to my own expectations and when I choose to opt out of doing the things I know I need to be doing.

This includes exercising, not procrastinating on following up on all sorts of business tasks, eating well, having fun…

More days than not, I find myself focusing on how far I still have to go. I see the programs I haven’t implemented yet and the website that isn’t quite perfect, rather than taking the time to marvel over the fact that I have so many ideas and a website at all.

And you know what? Failing to acknowledge how far I’ve come robs me of a lot of joy and a lot of pride. I may not have everything figured out in my new business, but I’ve come a long way from where I was a year ago.

I would be willing to bet that you’ve made huge progress in the last year, as well, but are too focused on what remains to be done to see it. I invite you to start giving yourself credit for a lot of hard work and achievement.

Recently someone I find amazing and inspirational as an entrepreneur nominated me for an award and I was so honoured by this I decided to go for it. It was such an enlightening experience in so many ways, in addition to wrting my brand story, a list of certifications and associations I belong to, there were a series of questions asked about my business, about why I am in this business and what my past accomplishments and future plans were.

I also had to ask for no less than 5 recommendations 3 for business and 2 personal and realised that what others see is completely different from what I see, lol.

No matter the outcome of the awards, just the experience of answering these questions is a winner for me and I have decided to put some of the lessons learned over the few days I worked on the award into a list for you too:

Remember to Breathe

Some days it’s like waiting to exhale, we have so much to do, so much we want to accomplish and so many voices in our heads telling us how to live, what we can and can’t do and who we should be.

Ask yourself regularly

What was I doing this time last year? Who was I being last year? What was I doing 5 years ago? Who was I being last year?

Make a list of your accomplishments

Do this as if you were going for an award. This was such a valuable experience as I had to define my business all over again, and define what was important about my business to me.

Ask a a friend why they believe you should win an award

This was one of the ways I answered one of the hardest questions of all, “why I should win” I found it impossible to answer this and so asked a few friends instead and got them to ask me interview style and then combined the answers to both into one. It was enlightening to say the least.

Ask for testimonials and recommendations more often lol

It’s amazing how others see you, and what you ahve accomplished.

Celebrate the little things more often

As you go about your day, try to notice when you take even the smallest step toward your goals, and be sure to honor that in some way. Even just writing it down in your journal will give you that moment of recognition.

Admit that life’s a journey

Once you admit that life’s a journey and you will never be done evolving and learning and growing and that we are always a work in progress. you will be kinder to yourself. You will realize you are exactly where you need to be and it doesn’t matter if you are moving fast or slow, only that you keep moving! And the best way to ensure that you continue to do that is to cherish each step along the way.

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