Recognize!

Last week I after proudly announcing that I had gone national with my networking event, my husband said to me, “No you didn’t.” Huh?

He said, “You went national LAST year when you did your event in Kalamazoo, Michigan.”

Forehead slap! How could I have forgotten that?

The answer is simple – I’m an entrepreneur. I’m always looking at what is next. How can I grow? How can I go further? Recreate? Help more people?

And in the process, I forget to acknowledge what I’ve accomplished. Forget completely.

My high-achieving friends are probably shrugging their shoulders right now and saying to themselves, “Yeah? So what? You can’t rest on your laurels and recount yesterday’s tales of glory.”

To them I say, well, yes… and no.

Recently I heard an internationally renowned psychologist speak about the importance of acknowledging our accomplishments. Broadly paraphrasing here, here is the gist of what she said:

If you are focused on making changes in your life you MUST continuously acknowledge your accomplishments. The make-up of your brain needs this positive reinforcement in order to change the physical connections that contribute to lasting change. Lack of acknowledgement gives your brain the message, “Yeah, I know I did some good things today, but they aren’t that great (and not important enough to retain).” And it stays stuck in the same patterns, with the same connections, and the same outcomes.

So today – recognize yourself! On my blog right here acknowledge what you’re doing right, give yourself a pat on the back, and brag on yourself a little. Your brain will thank you!