Pat yourself on the back for what you have achieved.
You maybe like myself - but I sometimes get to the end of the day and look at my Daily To Do List and say “Norman, what have you been doing, ? you have achieved so little !”.
However, I then think of a client of mine from 20 years ago, who had printed Daily To Lists and at the bottom they read “Don’t beat yourself up for what you have not completed - just pat yourself on the back for what you have achieved !”
In a similar vein, I have for many years written a daily diary - some people call it journaling. Until about five years ago, I wrote down many things that had gone wrong - I was beating myself up. Now I write down things that go wrong and things that go well - and I feel a lot better.
I was recently working with a new client (her name’s Sheila) and she explained that for the last ten years, she and her two partners had run a services company with turnover of circa £1 million.
We were talking about a sales exit - and she said to me “Norman, my biggest regret over the last ten years is not building up a company with a capital value” - and I said “Sheila - there is no need to beat yourself up - you and your two partners have earned yourselves a good living over this time, you are still very much solvent, you have provided salaries for five employees and delivered a really professional service to hundreds of satisfied clients - well done you“.
Sheila then says “Norman, I really appreciate you saying that - that has made me feel really good “
If you are beating yourself up unnecessarily - try patting yourself on your back.