Written by: Cheryl Dutta, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
In a recent coaching session, my client experienced an A-ha moment where he realized that he was carrying so many beliefs about himself that he had perceived to be true for the longest time. Beliefs from childhood about his identity, behavior, familial and cultural expectations — there had never been a moment in his life where he had detached from these limiting beliefs to acknowledge the person that he had become. It was truly empowering for him to finally acknowledge how different his path was and that the way he had experienced growth and success in his life did not conform to what others expected from him.
Why is Acknowledgement important
As human beings many of us crave acknowledgement from others; it is the act of truly seeing someone else and accepting them for what they are doing or who they are and recognizing them for their efforts. When the acknowledgement is genuine it can transform the very core behavior of a person and their beliefs about themselves and their environment. Being acknowledged makes people feel like they matter. To be able to extend this to others, we need to first practice acknowledging ourselves and take steps to reframe our thought process to focus on how we can perceive ourselves in a more positive light. Studies show that most of the time we retain only the negative aspects of life. We carry this into our futures and shape our values and beliefs based on how we are perceived. Most of the time our decisions are based not on achieving a positive outcome but on avoiding a bad one. To focus on growth and progress we need to minimize the effect of the negatives in our lives. To be more aware of the power that a negative experience or perception can have in shaping our outcomes and working on changing that perception.
Changing the narrative
Practice, practice, and more practice. Self-love is an everyday practice, to shine a light on one's strengths and build self-confidence, it takes a lot of effort to accomplish this. To shift the paradigms that we have allowed ourselves to live with, it takes the total rewiring of our neural pathways, and acknowledgement is the first step to self-actualization.
Simple steps toward Self Acknowledgement
Create space to express appreciation- pausing to appreciate something about yourself or others in your life. Even just saying a simple “thank you” with genuine sincerity creates a pathway to acknowledging others or yourself. Noticing and appreciating even a small act of kindness can make a huge impact. Creating space to pause in the moment and have a positive interaction, changes the mindset that influences our behavior, our actions and ultimately our results.
Celebrate the small wins- very often we focus on the big accomplishments and tend to overlook the minor things that we do in our everyday life, for example for a working mom it can mean acing the morning routine with the family, putting her kids to bed on time, or getting a fitness routine in place, learning to acknowledge these small wins we do successfully everyday can help us be more aware of our strengths and values and train ourself to celebrate and acknowledge our achievements.
Silencing the inner critic- we tend to be our own best critics, we experience strong guilt and remorse when we experience failure or do not live up to certain expectations, these negative thoughts lead to a constant dialogue within ourselves of self-deprecation. By being kind to ourselves and more appreciative we can change this narrative.
An attitude of Gratitude- this can be a game-changer, it has so many positive effects, from improving our personal self-image, to building better relationships, strengthening our personal values and beliefs, and living our life in the best way possible. The more we can bring our attention to being grateful and practicing it, the better we become at self-acknowledgement. Easy and simple acts like keeping a gratitude journal and writing the things we are grateful for in the day, being mindful of the good in our life or trying to find two or three things that we are grateful for everyday and saying them out loud. Expressing our gratitude to others, appreciating our surroundings, and slowing down to look inward.
Mindfulness - practicing mindfulness means being in the present moment, the more we learn to appreciate our present and try and live in the moment and enjoy the experience, the more we can look at the positive in our life. Mindfulness allows us not to be judgmental or make assumptions about our experiences but just observe and reflect. This awareness brings acknowledgement and acceptance.
Acknowledgement is a very powerful tool used in a coaching conversation. It can empower a person to learn to appreciate and value their life and experiences and create their own solutions. It helps in recognizing what is important to us and our achievements. When we can internally validate ourselves, we no longer have the need to be seeking it from others. Our story is for us to enjoy and embrace.
Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Cheryl!
Cheryl Dutta, Executive Contributor Braiinz Magazine
Cheryl Dutta is an experienced Life and Transition Coach, with a demonstrated history of working with individuals from diverse fields. She served in the Military for ten years as a Helicopter Pilot, is a successful Entrepreneur and has a Bachelor of Arts focused on Psychology and Economics.
Her aim is to help individuals succeed in living their best life in a seamless, organic, positive, and holistic way. She believes that it is important to align your values and beliefs with the kind of career and lifestyle you want to have. She offers realistic and actionable strategies to help you take the steps towards achieving your life purpose and being your authentic self.
She has always been an advocate for gender parity and has created her signature Coaching Program to help Women to live their best life, at work and at home, align their goals and create a vision for a more empowered future.
