Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE

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High Five!

Borat
Do you ever pat yourself on the back? I mean, when you've completed something, had some success, achieved a small goal.....or a big goal, do you ever stop and congratulate yourself?

In our task orientated society, where demands are high, personal performance is measured (usually by others in our annual review) it's easy to forget or omit one important stage in the project cycle. There are many stages in making a project come to completion from the initial brainstorming of ideas requiring imagination, creativity and inspiration through planning to implementation. OK, job done. What happens next? Often we go straight on to the next thing that requires our attention. But what about the one we've just completed? It's a mistake to move on so swiftly without giving consideration to what has been achieved.

We like it when our work is appreciated. "Well Done!" Others may say. "Great job" "High Five!" Or they might not say anything at all. We may have bust a gut getting this project done on time, high in creativity and low in cost. We've produced miracles out of the impossible. It's now time to acknowledge our achievements.....for ourselves. It's part of the cycle: we have ideas, planning, implementation.........and then acknowledgment!!

Stand back and look at what you've achieved. This doesn't just apply to the big projects in life. It can be the small achievements we have every day. If you've cleaned the car, look at it, admire how lovely it is and smile. For me, I'm now able to play on the violin all of the 24 scales which includes major and minor keys in two octaves or three. This may not be the most exciting achievement and there are many levels to go through as I learn to play them at different tempos with different bowings and learning to recognise all the notes instantly.....but that will come all in good time. Today I have played all the scales and for my limited experience as a novice violinist it is a small achievement. I could pass this by and just 'push on' with the next thing. But no. I stop and think.....I have done well. I am pleased and I pat myself on the back.

Why should we do this? Because it completes the cycle. It makes us feel good about what we've done. If we feel good about it we will want to do more. Acknowledgement fuels our enthusiasm to get on with something else. A pat on the back helps us feel that we have achieved something and makes us smile. Feeling good about what we've done helps us achieve more, be happier and healthier. I'm slowly moving up the ladder of violin playing. Maybe I'm on the third rung of this very long un-ending ladder. Heck, I've done quite well, thank you! It's not about revelling in your own egotisitacal self-glory. IIt's part of the process and it's our loss to ignore it. Now we can look at what's next, feeling good about our achievements so far.

How should we congratulate ourselves? A pat on the back is one thing. Give some time to look at what you've done. Go and buy yourself a special gift. Treat yourself to something extraordinary. Get yourself something that spoils you. The size and expense doesn't matter. It could be a bunch of flowers that you can look at for a week or more to remind you of your sucess.

If you see someone else achieving something, no matter how small which they did to their very best ability....even if it's not as good as they hoped (who are we to judge them?) .....remember to tell them "Well Done". It's not condescending if we mean what we say. They did their best. Put a smile on their face. A little acknowledgement goes a long way. And if we did our best.....High Five!

:-)

Posted by Noël on November 10, 2006 8:13 AM | Permalink