No, that’s not a typo!

I experienced a shift this month- not necessarily one I intended, but one I definitely needed. I had a blank spot in my calendar one day, and as I reflected on what I wanted to do with it (because, heaven forbid, I just sit and allow the blank space), I realized I did actually just want to sit and be still for a bit. It was a clear call to DO NOTHING. That’s not exactly my specialty, but I’ve been really tuning into what my intuition is asking of me, so this time I listened to it.

I grabbed my journal and sat on the couch. I don’t know what I was expecting, but what I ended up getting was transformative. I found myself reflecting on the busy-ness of the recent weeks and months. It’s been an exceptional time for us at Team Lance (my family as well as with my business), and this was the first real pause I’d taken in quite some time. Usually what comes up is a bit of stress around how I’ve been spending my time, what the calendar looks like moving forward, etc, but this time what came front and center was how freaking AWESOME I’ve been doing. In fact, I realized I have a pretty special singular brand of my own “awesome”.

That surprised me a bit! I’m no shrinking violet when it comes to saying “Yeah, I kicked ass today!”, but this was a different level of appreciation. Maybe it’s because I’ve been hyper-tuning my gratitude sensors lately, but I had some real clarity around some of my recent accomplishments and realized, “Wow. That IS pretty rad.” (Yes, my internal monologue uses the word rad frequently) Normally, I’d kind of pooh-pooh this and humbly move past the feeling, but that day, I decided to really let myself marinate in it for a bit. I took note of the big wins and small wins of the recent weeks, even spending some time appreciating the fact that I’m able to get my 3-year-old fed, fully dressed, and with teeth brushed (don’t ask me about the hair) out the door 5 days a week on time to get to school so I can make my first appointments of the day. I take that for granted on a daily basis, but I’ll tell ya, sometimes that seems as insurmountable as prepping for a major keynote or a 4-hour workshop!

Though the whole experience was maybe only 15 minutes, it has dramatically shifted my self-perspective. I’m more conscious of where my own awesome pops up throughout the day, and that provides a much-needed boost and welcome counterbalance to some of the other challenges I navigate, whether those challenges are coming from between my own two ears or if they are external in nature.

I am finding that acknowledging your awesome leads to amplification- you’re likely to see more of it and experience the joy of it more fully. I invite you to give it a shot. Create a small pocket of time in your schedule, grab something to take some notes with, and see if you can acknowledge your own awesome!