Credit Where Credit is Due

Before we begin this very serious post, I thought I'd share this image with you:

Cute, right? It made my day. OK. Let's get down to business. Confession time: I don't give myself enough credit. It's true. I spend a lot of time brushing off compliments and talking down on my achievements. It's easy to become demotivated when you think that you aren't good enough — what I didn't realize is that the way I talk to and about myself reflects and influences the way I see myself, whether or not I've realized it in the past. I'm afraid that I don't deserve to be confident in what I've accomplished because for a long time, I believed that my achievements were not good enough. That's all going to change. There are three things that I plan on doing more that (I hope) will affect the way I see myself and the way that I interact with the world around me. If you've mastered these things, that's awesome! If not, please try them with me.

1. Stop comparing myself to other people.
2. Be more generous with genuine kindness and compliments to others.
3. Be more generous with genuine kindness and compliments to myself.
4. Last — and definitely the most difficult for me — talk to myself. Verbally acknowledge my achievements and understand that I am, in fact, worthy of praise.

This has been me, venting to you, my U of T family. It's all honesty and love here, right? Here's one more picture of a cute cat for the road: