Day 6 being on time, and how we motivate ourselves

It's easy to feel like no matter how well you're doing that "it's not enough."  There is after all, always something in our lives that challenges us.  We all have our weak areas no matter how many we are strong in.

My big lesson right now is to remember to acknowledge my strong areas.  I'm so type A sometimes that I forget to take a step back and reflect on all the things that I do well and should be damn proud of.

Where does this come from?  My girlfriend and I were talking about this the other day and she made an excellent point.  There are a lot of people who try to beat themselves up in order to succeed.  They put themselves down and tell themselves that it's sad if they can't get this or that done.

It almost resembles some mythical authority figure within the individual barking at them like a drill sargent.  A lot of us grew up like this.  Either it was our parents, our teachers, our sports coaches or someone else.  Someone was telling us we had to push harder and anything else was not acceptable.  Years ago I even had a friend commit suicide when he was expelled from high school.  The fear based perspective of "god I need to do well at this or else" was so ingrained he felt the need to take his life when he thought he had committed the ultimate failure.

And that inner drill sargent gets results....to some extent.  Except that a lot of us are adults now.  Someone can bark at me..*I* can bark at me and make myself feel bad.  But I know the threats aren't really true.  There's no bite to them.  My world is bigger today and I know that if I sleep all day long the world will not blow up, contrary to what my inner abusive authority figure might tell me.

That just leaves me feeling pretty bad about myself, and STILL not getting the work done.

So, how about loving myself instead?  Taking the time to acknowledge what you do well.  Acknowledge your own power, believe in yourself and your ability to change.  Build yourself up and as you grow more capable watch yourself do amazing things.

For today, I am acknowledging that when I originally did this chapter about being on time my answers were horrendous and embarrassing.  I don't think I was ever on time in my life.  It was so bad people joked about it.  Everyone knew I was "molasses."

Today, I am almost always on time.  I realize the small stuff is an opportunity to build myself up.  I can do much more good for myself and those around me when I am at my strongest.  Because I care about myself, I take those opportunities to become as strong as I can.  And I appreciate myself for doing that.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day.

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