This morning I woke up with the topic of acknowledging yourself on my mind. I almost always get my life lessons from God early in the morning or just as I’m waking up so I’ve learned to pay attention to those things. Recently I did this strengths test with Marcus Buckingham (I will share more with you later) and you get a weekly email with a tip on how to “live” your strength. My tip for the week was: Celebrate often what you bring to the table. Hmmm…. two things on the topic within 15 minutes and I know it’s something God wants me to pay attention to.
What does “acknowledge” myself mean? Often when I come across words like this I will look up the definitions. So I did and here is the dictionary definition::
ac·knowl·edge (
k-n
l
j)
tr.v. ac·knowl·edged, ac·knowl·edg·ing, ac·knowl·edg·es
1.
2.
I first learned about acknowledging myself from Rhonda Britten. She wrote the book, “Change your Life in 30 Days” and used to be a life coach on the show Starting Over.
When we acknowledge our self we are focusing on the good things we do. Those things are so easily forgotten because the things we screw up on SCREAM at us. Here is what Rhonda says about acknowledgments:
Acknowledgments are all about giving yourself credit and patting yourself on the back. It’s not about acknowledging yourself if you get the results you want or how well you did something. Whenever we are taking even a tiny step forward, we are building our self-confidence. Acknowledgements literally shift how you feel about yourself. Acknowledgments build self-confidence, build self-esteem, build self-worth and build acceptance.
I have to be honest I really struggled with doing this. It felt prideful! But isn’t it just as prideful to think about how bad, or screwed up we are? Phil. 4:8 says “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” I used to do this daily and my life was different. What we focus on we become. So…. after God’s direction, I will be doing this again. I made a printable if you want to do it with me.
This is a great idea – makes you feel like you have accomplished some things when you write it down. I read a Jillian Michaels book about a year ago that has something similar to this.
Stopping by from Fun in Functional where I saw your link. What a great post and cute printable :)Ang, Juggling Act Mama
Beautifully written :)I feel like I need to do more of the opposite, personally, which is why I've started writing down 3 things I'm thankful for everyday (putting the focus on things outside of my control). It sounds big headed, but I am aware of what I do and I think great things about myself, but oftentimes I forget to give credit to God, my husband, the friendly neighbor around the corner.We all have something we need to work on and sometimes we just need to write it out to make a habit out of it.XO,CorinnaAshley.com
Nice!
I'm so excited to join you in this! It is so hard to acknowledge ourselves without thinking we are being prideful. Philippians 4:8 is one of my favorite verses. Thanks for sharing with us!!
What a great tool! We all need a little coaching and self-appreciation sometimes for all that we do. We're so busy having a life we forget to enjoy it. Thank you!
Wow I needed this today! I have not been acknowledging myself at all…probably quite the opposite. And I can barely get through each day lately. I am so going to go sit down, put my feet up and acknowledge myself! Thanks for linking up with me 🙂
Thank you for sharing! I've struggled with acknowledging the good that I do, especially as an educator. I would get an A+ on telling you how I messed up, my faults, etc. When I think I am done, I have parents who remind me of those not so positive things. God has been dealing with me on this very topic recently. Thank you for your obedience to His urgings. Blessing to you!
Great ideas, as always! Thanks for linking up at the Creative Home and Garden Hop with such a useful, thoughtful post. See you again this week, I hope, at <a href="http://mumtopia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-creative-home-and-garden-hop-5.html#.UhpXUNLObZIhttp://mumtopia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-creati… />