While having coffee with a professional acquaintance, she began to share that she’s teaching her children how to give grace to other people, but she’s then so hard on herself.

I laughed and admitted I do the same thing. Most of us do the same thing!

If we had a good friend who was in our shoes, we would say things to them like,

“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. Look at all you’ve accomplished.”

“Why are you beating yourself up? You’ve done ______________, ______________, and _______________.”

We would give them grace, and work to help them find the grace within themselves, right?

Regardless of the reason why we don’t give ourselves more grace (that’s a different post!), we need to apply The 6-Month Rule. When I can remember to do this myself, it works!

So, what’s The 6-Month Rule?

When you find yourself beating yourself up for not being further along, not hitting the mark of where you wanted to be or where you thought you’d be, rewind the clock back six months and compare where you are to where you were then.

If you have been sincerely working to get better, I guarantee (and I don’t do that often) you will see progress, and probably more than you thought.

The reason why you can’t see it in the moment is because you’re with you and your efforts and your results every day. Often, there’s no real progress in 24 hours, but if you allow six months to pass and then look back, it’s amazing to see what’s been accomplished.

So, the next time you start beating yourself up for not achieving more, take a 6-month walk down memory lane to review where you were, and then celebrate.

Until next time….