Life is pretty good and sometimes we get the opportunity to reflect during some quiet time. This is such a moment for me right now. Here’s something I’ve been reflecting on:
Most of us don’t give ourselves enough credit. While we may not be living the exact life that we want to be living, we’re taking active steps each and every day – you should be celebrating that, not simply thinking that there is more that you could be doing. For right now, you need to begin to take notice of your accomplishments – thus spurning yourself on and providing all the motivation you’ll ever need.
Little Things Add Up to Big Dreams
What you need to realize is that everything you do every day is adding up to bigger successes for yourself. For example, when you are trying to lose weight, each time you choose water instead of softdrink is saving you over one hundred calories. While this doesn’t seem like a big deal, if you choose water over soda just once a day, you will lose 5 kilos during the course of a year.
Take out a piece of paper or set aside some time to congratulate yourself for the little choices you’ve made today that are pushing you toward your dream. This will help you notice more and more things you could be doing, thus driving your success and helping you continue on.
When the Past Does Matter
While you want to forget the mistakes you made in the past, you do want to remember the things you’ve done well before now. It’s not conceited to be proud of yourself; in fact, you need to start taking more notice of yourself right now. By feeling good about the things you’ve already done, dreams you’ve already achieved, you can begin to feel more confident that yes, you can have more and do more in your life.
Whether you write down your successes or you simply take a few minutes each day to think about things you’ve done well, you are going to create a more positive mindset as well as allow yourself to be pumped up for the next day’s challenges – whatever they might be.
Have a most outstanding day
Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 – 2007
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree it is good to look back from time to time and recognise the achievements that have been made already, rather than those which are yet to come. Too often society seems to focus on the negatives – the bad stuff going on and the good things we don’t have. It is easy to get caught up in that mindset.
Taking the time to reflect on the latter certainly does help to keep oneself grounded. It also encourages a mindset of gratitude, the benefits of which you mentioned in an earlier post. And importantly, focusing on the positive stuff in life keeps the happiness meter up and drives us on to bigger and better things.
Thinking back, some of my hardest challenges are probably from a time when I was so young that I can‘t remember. Like learning to talk, and starting to walk. Man that must have been really tough at the time, but now I take it for granted. I am sure that if I had to learn to walk or talk all over again I would find it a pretty frustrating process to go through. Reflecting on this certainly makes my current challenges seem quite a bit easier.
Tom McEwin´s last blog ..Getting Targeted Internet Traffic and a Hungry Crowd
You’re right. I have done a lot right. But I often slip into a state of it’s not enough. I should spend more time reflecting on my achievements.
Wal Heinrich´s last blog ..Internet Marketing Why? How?
Hi Wal,
I think that it is all to easy to fall to distractions & slip into the state that you speak of, it’s so nice to be reminded that your not alone & that others also share the same struggles & roadblocks in life : )
jeremy´s last blog ..jlagatule- RT @tonyrobbins For you night owls still upCome be the first to have a sneak peak of R Breakthrough insiders site http-bitly-caSRxw
Hi Sean,
I love this. It’s about creating that winning feeling. By celebrating each small success we help build some momentum to help propel us towards our larger goals.
I think by making a list of things that you have been successful at in the past really helps. A lot of us tend to minimize the amount of success that we have experienced. We spend so much time focusing on what we’ve failed at that we forget to acknowledge what we have been successful with. It’s the successes we need to focus on so that we can create more of them.
So true Sean
Just like we celebrate our little successes in the forum and can see the progress we are making
Gee´s last blog ..Why You Should Just Ignore Fad Diets (Part 2)
And as we acknowledge each day’s achievements, we can see the process and let it go in readiness for the next step. Writing down these steps is for me like asking the kids when they first walked in the door after school – ‘what great things happened today?’ Getting balanced perspectives and seeing how the steps fit in with our goals empowers us with our own recognition of ourselves. Good stuff!
Jo Carey-Bradshaw´s last blog ..Empowering Mindset – Mindfulness
I often talk to friends about achievements in life and dreams for the future and it amazes me sometimes on how many do not actually realize what they have accomplished in life over a given time period until they take the time, step back and piece together their achievements no matter how small they may be.
It all counts!
Cemil´s last blog ..Entrepreneur Characteristics
“Success isn’t how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started”.
I’d like to say that I just pulled that quote out of my hat, but I only had the essence of it and had to Google for the actual quote.
Whatever action it is that you are doing, be it trying to build a business, build a list, or just going for a bike ride: while it’s obvious you have to keep your eyes on the goals in front of you, that can actually get a little discouraging as the end result can always seem far away. So it’s definitely necessary to take a look behind every now and then and look at the distance you have already traveled, the obstacles/challenges you have already overcome. That way, you can actually measure your progress and be motivated by it to push on further and harder, with more conviction.
Cheers,
Pete
Pete´s last blog ..peteboyr: @bullhunter Thanks, Sean. Just reviewing the webinar, and will get to your blogs after that. Big night ahead, pizza on the way!
Thanks Sean,
I’m glad i read this. Now i can take some quiet time to congratulate myself and to realise and cherish all the little things that ive done in my life that i know will add up to a greater success in the future. Thanks for helping me to understand and forget my past mistakes and take on every day step by step as they come. I am now going to work on creating a more positive mindset and focus on the success of every little thing i undertake!
You are a champ Sean, thanks for sharing!!
Cheers
Rose
Rose Kawe´s last blog ..For A Few Dollars More
Thanks Sean, I really needed to read that. It important to remember that all our ‘little’ accomplishments add up. Doing something, no matter how small, is still a step forward in right direction, and is more productive than doing nothing at all.
Self-esteem is important to increase self-confidence. Yes, we need to recognize what we have done so that we can move forward with greater optimism. Now I am truly convinced that Sean is a top class success communicator, apart from being a top class internet marketer.
So true & you only need to read through Sean’s articles here to realize how he has pushed through all his roadblocks & achieved his success!
jeremy´s last blog ..jlagatule- RT @tonyrobbins For you night owls still upCome be the first to have a sneak peak of R Breakthrough insiders site http-bitly-caSRxw
I am, or have been, my own worst critic. One of the things I’ve started to work on with myself is just what you’re talking about here. If I only focus on the negative and constantly criticize myself, I get nowhere. But, by learning from my mistakes and focusing on my achievements, I make constant progress.
Positive thinking is something we need to consciously practise. A lot of our education has taught us that it’s safer to be negative. Don’t expect too much and you won’t be disappointed. Well, if you adopt that attitude, you won’t achieve anything either. We need to celebrate our successes, however small they might be. Sure we need to recognise our mistakes or how will we learn from them? But we shouldn’t dwell on them.
Gary Birch´s last blog ..The Economic Benefits of Second Language Learning
There is one area in my life where I remember very well, many of the steps I needed to take and decisions I had to make without seeing the results immediately. Sometimes the decisions were really difficult because I would not know the outcome for a long time down the track.
With no guide book and mostly working on intuition, I raised two beautiful children. It was not luck, but thinking ‘through time’ about consequences of actions I took and decisions I had to make.
This is my greatest achievement. And now when I see my daughter being the loving devoted mother of her child, it is double confirmation for me that I got it right.
Everything else is a peice of cake!
Elly´s last blog ..
Hi Sean,
It is so true that little things lead to big dreams & often to great success. You only need to look at the success stories that are all around us to realize that they all started with a single idea.