Over the last couple years, since I graduated from college in 2015, I’ve constantly felt like I’ve failed- unaccomplished, not good enough, not smart enough. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t seem to get to where I was hoping to be.
I don’t know about you, but I often find myself focusing on the things that I’m NOT doing/ haven’t accomplished. It’s so easy to focus on the negatives and what we aren’t doing in our lives or haven’t been able to accomplish in our lives.
A couple years ago, I realized the career path I envisioned myself in was not for me. It was really hard for me to realize this & honestly, I struggled to figure out what I was supposed to be doing because I always saw myself in clinical work. This lead me to struggle with my mental health & then I got fired from a job I thought was my “big break”.
At 25 years old, I was still living with my parents, without a job & not knowing where I was supposed to go next. Due to these reasons, I’ve considered the last couple years to be “dysfunctional”. Almost like a quarter life crisis.
Related: Adjusting Your Mindset When Bad Things Happen, Getting through a quarter life crisis, My 8 Step Process to Overcoming Depression, How to start feeling like you are in control of your life, What 2020 taught me
It’s really discouraging when you think that nothing you are doing is working. When it seems like everyone around you is accomplishing all of these amazing things and you’re over here struggling to do anything.
Until I thought…
- Have I really “failed” at accomplishing anything?
- What if what I was considering as failures are actually steps to getting me closer to success?
- What if I’ve been so focused on thinking about “failures”, that I have actually been ignoring all of my accomplishments?
These questions I started asking myself really put things into perspective and I wanted to share what I have discovered with you! This is a truly powerful exercise. One that I think a lot of people would find to be a game-changer for them & potentially shift the trajectory of life. I’ve found it to be life changing & I want to share this with you! <3
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The first week of the new year, I found myself journaling about my accomplishments in the last decade and it opened my eyes to everything that I was truly able to accomplish. This was really eye opening to me because I had been mostly focusing on all of the things I was “failing” at. It made me realize that while I was focusing on all of the things that I hadn’t done, I was neglecting to really celebrate all of the things that I was able to do.
Related: The Power of Journaling
Here is my list of decade accomplishments that I found myself journaling about:
This exercise was really powerful for me because it made me shift my mindset away from thinking about everything that had gone wrong, to being proud of myself for all of the things that I was able to do and accomplish in the last decade.
So, let me ask you- do you ever take the time to really celebrate all of your accomplishments along your journey? To really take the time to celebrate yourself, your business/life, all the hard work you do & have done, the sacrifices, the blood, sweat & tears you shed to get you to where you are today?
We get so caught up in wanting to achieve the bigger goal, that we don’t take the time to really celebrate all of the things that happen along the journey that leads us to that end goal.
Related: How to finally start achieving your goals
But, I think it’s important to really take the time to celebrate and be proud of ourselves for how hard we’ve worked and all that we’ve been able to accomplish. When we think that we aren’t making any progress, it’s discouraging. When we focus on what we are failing at, it’s easy to get down on ourselves and give up.
Related: How to improve your mindset
TIPS FOR ADJUSTING YOUR MINDSET
Celebrate all of the wins
I say it’s important to celebrate all of the “wins” that even seem to be so small. Things that some people think are comparable to a “participation trophy”. I say, celebrating those things. Even something that seems as simple as celebrating getting out of bed in the morning. It’s something that seems so simple, but for some people, depending on what an individual is going through, that can be a step forward.
CELEBRATE IT ALLLLL!!
>> click here to download my 5 tips for crushing your goals
Pay attention to your inner dialogue
Seriously, pay attention to what you are saying to yourself! If you are constantly telling yourself that you are a “failure” and haven’t been able to accomplish anything, then you really aren’t going to get very far.
Related: How to know if it’s time to hire a life coach
We tend to be bullies to ourselves and are incredibly hard on ourselves. It’s like not matter what we do, it’s never enough. However, what you tell yourself is incredibly important for making sure that you are continuing to move forward in every aspect of life.
So, be kind to yourself & really start paying attention to your inner dialogue!
Forget what everyone else thinks
I say, who cares what everyone thinks. Write down every single thing you are proud of yourself for and take the time to actually CELEBRATE.
In my recent post on Breaking Free From Society & Creating A Life You Love, I talk about forgetting about societal generalizations to start creating a life you actually LOVE living. We live and create a life based on what society says we should be doing & I’m calling BS on that. We all have special talents & traits that makes us unique and I think we deserve to CELEBRATE that uniqueness.
Related: 9 things to stop doing to get the most out of life, 8 ways you are probably holding yourself back without even realizing it, Simple tips to have more confidence in yourself
Forget about if society says your accomplishments aren’t worth celebrating. Forget that. YOU deserve to be celebrated- every single little thing you’ve done.
So, make sure that you are celebrating all of those “wins” throughout your journey, whatever that looks like for YOU! Those seemingly smaller “wins” are going to add up and could be potentially life-changing if you allow them.
Take the time to really think about and celebrate everything that you have done in life so far, and start celebrating them as they come. You may be surprised at how much you’ve actually been able to accomplish!
This is just ONE of FIVE topics that I cover in my Better Mindset Course!
I would LOVE to support you along your journey! <3 YOU GOT THIS!
I do offer 1:1 coaching and invite you to check out my opportunities if that is something that you would be interested in. Click here for more information on my 1:1 coaching opportunities! <3
>> Self Care Planning Worksheet
>> 50 Journal Prompts For Self Reflection & Self Discovery
>> 5 Tips For Crushing Your Goals
Xx,
-Jess
