When I was at my worst, I had so many things that I "couldn't" do. I'm sure a lot of you are feeling the same way or at least have felt that way in the past. Sometimes we dwell so much on the things we "can't" do (or rather won't) that we overlook overcoming any obstacles. Regardless of how small the task may be, give yourself a pat on the back for doing it. What may seem like a small feat for someone is probably a huge deal to you! Make sure you give yourself recognition for stepping out of your comfort zone and accomplishing something you previously wouldn't have done. Not only does it deserve your praise, but it makes you feel so good about yourself! It also helps solidify that you can do things and you can get better. As I stated last night, dwell in the positive feelings...do a happy dance if you must...whatever it takes for you to congratulate yourself on a job well done. You'd do it for your friends, family, kids...why not do it for yourself?
Even though I'm far better than I was, there are still some lingering issues that I have. One of them being a phone phobia. To put it plainly, I'd rather have root canal work done than call someone. I find it so stressful and I usually have to work myself up for an hour over a five minute phone call. I've always been this way, even as a kid. Teenage girl on the phone all night long? Only if they called me! I think this stems from one or two incidents I had when I actually did call someone and I started to talk to them as if they were the person I was calling, and it was someone else. I was so embarrassed by it that I think of it every time I go to pick up the phone. OR, just the opposite, when you don't recognize the voice and ask for so and so and their reply is "duh it's me!" Nothing like feeling like a complete jackass to keep you from making that mistake more than once! Those things happened to me over 20 years ago and yet they are still fresh in my mind.
Well, leave it to me to have an office job. Of course one of my main jobs in the office is answering the phones (fine, that doesn't bother me at all) and calling people back, especially during tax season. I do have to say that over the 14ish years of working there, I've gotten a lot better. However, I still find it nerve wracking to call people back. I will usually do a whole bunch of call backs at once and every time I get to the bottom of the list, I do my little happy clap and pat myself on the back for getting through another 30 minutes of non-stop phone calls. Do I look silly? Probably, but I don't care. I'm so proud of myself when I finish that it's worth it. And, it does make the next round of calls a little easier because I know that in a few short minutes I'll be doing my happy little clap all over again.
Bottom line is, you are working on yourself so you need to praise yourself. We spend enough time getting down on ourselves for doing x, y, and z it's about time we rooted for ourselves for doing a, b, and c.
Tammy
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