What’s Your Strong Suit?

“May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.”

— Irish Blessing

Do you find yourself dwelling on what’s wrong with your life more often than what’s right?

You are not alone.

We are wired to pay attention to negative feedback, whether it’s from our own internal chatter, or what others say about us. If fact, according to this article from the Harvard Business Review, many studies have shown that when asked to recall important emotional events, people remember four negative memories for every positive one.

What does that mean in terms of living the life you want?

The Universe responds to our energetic vibrations by bringing more of whatever we focus our energy on into our experience. So, when you’re busy focusing on all the things in your life that you don’t want; don’t like; wish you could change, you are sending out strong pulses to the Universe that resound: “Give me more crap, please!”

The good news?

Even though we tend to remember criticism, we respond to praise, whether it’s from an internal or external source.

So, by giving yourself positive feedback and remembering all that you’re good at, instead of focusing on the stuff that you don’t want, you will, over time, change your default thought patterns and begin to focus on your strengths, or what’s going right in your world instead of your perceived weaknesses or the experiences that you don’t want, thereby bringing more things that you do want into your experience.

The Harvard Business Review shares a powerful tool – The Reflected Best Self (RBS) exercise, that can help you understand and leverage your talents, and develop a sense of your personal best.

So, why not praise the crap out of yourself? Literally.

You’re worth it!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!