Self-Recognition - A Key to Self Love

Self-acknowledgement and self-recognition are critical factors in the creation of healthy self-esteem and self-worth, and often one of the main reasons we don't do this for ourselves as adults is because we did not receive enough of it from others as we grew up...

There are many keys to growing a 'healthy self' and cultivating self-love, and one of the most missed elements is self-recognition.

Most people are 'guilty' of this lack of self-acknowledgement:

As we go about our life, we forget to notice our achievements and progress, often staying focused on what we still have to do, or what we haven't done.

This is a bad habit which we need to consciously work on changing if we want to experience a better sense of self, including greater self-value, self-confidence, self-worth and self-esteem.

I was reminded of this for myself recently as I launched a new health program which essentially took 30 years to be ready to deliver! 30 years!

For 10 years prior to the launch of this new program I had been thinking and imagining that I would like to run a program which would teach people how to heal themselves, but even though I had done it for myself, and done much professional training, still I had to develop my own protocols beyond the techniques I had learned from other trainers. I had to make the content mine. And this took time.

And just yesterday as I was preparing for the first live class, it suddenly hit me: wow - I did it! I finally did it! I have created a program which I have been dreaming of for 10 years, but I haven't recognized the significant milestone this is!

And so I stopped for a moment to recognize all the work it had taken to make it to this precise moment in time, all the blood, sweat and tears, trial and error, two steps forward - one step back, hours of study and implementation... and to acknowledge how much progression it took to reach this point.

So my question to you is this:

How much do you acknowledge your progress? Do you consciously notice your improvements on your journey of self-development? When was the last time you congratulated yourself?

If you haven't noticed and affirmed your progress in a while, then you might like to do so... right now... today!

Self-acknowledgement and self-recognition are critical factors in the growth of self-esteem and self-worth, and often one of the main reasons we don't do this for ourselves is if we did not receive much of this from others as we grew up. 

Being seen, honoured and affirmed is an important and essential emotional need for a child, building their sense of worth and self-esteem from a young age. If we do not receive enough encouragement or positive life-affirming feedback, we will not know how to do this for ourself later in life. In turn this leads to unhealthy behaviours such as attention-seeking, putting oneself down, beating oneself up, over-doing, self-neglect and more. 

It is not selfish to affirm and acknowledge yourself! You deserve your own praise (as long as it doesn't turn into self-centredness). 

So go on! Do it! Find something to congratulate yourself for today!