Have you ever looked in the mirror and said.....

Have you ever just looked into the mirror and spoken to yourself?  Oh yeah - we all do it at one time or another.  It doesn't mean we are "nuts", (ok, maybe just a little) it just shows though, that we are constantly communicating with ourselves. (Some more often than others!)

Some of us may sing or dance - but often we use the mirror to find the little imperfections.

We go looking for a stray little black chin hair, or we examine our hair loss, freckles, double chin and any other flaw that needs to be fixed.  And we talk to ourselves. 

"You see - you are fat - just look!".  "Who were you to think you could become a famous dancer?"  "Wow, I wish the wrinkles would disappear".  "Now that was a dumb move".  Which one of us has not said at least one of these things to ourselves?

Last week I attended Jack Canfield's 7 day Train the Trainer event in San Diego.  One of the exercises we were tasked with was to look in the mirror every evening and tell ourselves what we appreciated about ourselves.

Sounds easy huh?

The technique may be as old as the hills - but how many of us really do it?  How many of us can look in the mirror and without cracking a smile can tell ourselves that we appreciate ourselves and name the things we appreciate? 

In my world - I was so busy trying to 'one up' myself and always do something bigger and better that I failed to recognize the achievements and the talents I had.  I even refused comments and praise for helping someone on their business journey.   I was never good enough for me.

It took me six days of the feared mirror exercise to realize that I had achieved great things - and then to say them out loud.  In my mind up until that point nothing had been quite good enough.  

My little voice constantly berated my achievements and sabotaged my self image. There were never enough people at the event, or she already had that answer inside her - I really did not help her much -  were constant thoughts.

What would it take for me to feel like I had achieved something great? 

Would making a lot of money make me feel like I was a success?  Was it fame that might make me feel like I was enough?

Then I realized - it was neither of those.  My success - my enough-ness was all about accepting my gifts and my shortcomings - and focusing on how I managed and used the gifts I was given.

If a surgeon performs heart surgery on a movie star - and becomes famous as a result - is that man any more of a success than a the lady next door who helped the senior citizen carry their groceries in?

Living our purpose and making a difference in one person's life is all it takes to become successful.  And the bigger success yet - is acknowledging the greatness inside you - and then using all of it to make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others.

I know now that even the smallest of my talents, offered to the world in love and service - will start a revolution that may change the world!  Now that's success!

The most successful words of all will always be "I am - good enough!"