Something that has always stumped me a little is being acknowledged.
Like most people, I have this ambivalent tendency to want it but reject it at the same time. When it came time to acknowledge my coaching clients, I saw it in a different light.
Maybe my European roots are showing again here, but acknowledging is not a great part of most European cultures. You don’t say “kudos” to people and you practically never hear it at school. I became more and more aware of my feelings towards it when I spoke to a Danish Coach friend of mine as we noticed acknowledging is fun and strange. Our culture here, the U.S. is much better at giving acknowledgments and receiving it.
Ultimately, acknowledging is something we could all do with more of. In our busy fast paced world where we are already onto to the next step and feeling guilty about what we could be doing, rarely do we stop to acknowledge what we have already done.
So this was my epiphany this week. And it happened as I set up this 7 piece stereo. I hadn’t set up a stereo in decades. I worked the wiring so well that everything worked on the first try. But I did give it more thought than usual. I wanted it to work from the first go. As I sat and watched it all work the way I wanted, I took time to acknowledge myself. And you know what? It was good. And boy, to listen to music on a real Hi-Fi system!
So give yourself a pat on the back. I am sure you can come up with a few things you deserve to recognize. And if you are stumped, think about this one thing, you made so far, haven’t you?