"Somewhere There Is A Past You- Who Is So Proud Of How Far You’ve Come"

I am the QUEEN of over-expectations for myself, which means I’m the queen of not living up to those expectations. Do you know how defeating that is!? We are our own worst critics when we should be our very best cheerleaders. I was working on Pinterest when I came across the quote, “Somewhere there is a past you who is so proud of how far you have come.” I sat there and thought about what the university student Bri from 2 years would be thinking, or the Bri who struggled to make friends in high school, what would she think of how far I’ve come? If you haven’t told yourself in awhile, you are doing AWESOME. No matter where you are right now and if you don’t feel that way sometimes, bookmark this post to save these 5 reminders.

1. Give Yourself a Break, You’re Doing The Best You Can.

I don’t know about you, but I love to smash my goals. I love to give it my all and I love to see results. When I don’t, I’m the first one to be hard on myself. Goals are there to push us, not to punish us. If you want to be better in business, if you want to get into shape at the gym, if you want to set goals in school, friendships, or life in general, set them, push yourself! But remind yourself that even if you skipped a gym day, spent the whole day in bed, and ate an entire gallon of ice cream, you did the best you could for that day, and there is always tomorrow. “Give yourself a break, you’re doing the best you can.”

2. Give Yourself Praise to Push You Forward

When I really wanted something, I would set goals, make preparations, and when I would fall flat on my face, I would be so mad at myself, hoping that, that passion would remind me why I wanted this and push me harder. The urgency to prove yourself over and over will not work. Scare-mentality does NOT work for anyone, including you. Want to know what does work? Praise for your efforts. Remind yourself that you are on the verge of something great. Give yourself the praise that you need to push you forward instead of the disappointment that will hold you back.

3. You Are Farther Along Than You Think

I would look at the laundry list of things that I haven’t done yet and be completely overwhelmed with how far I have to go. I was driving in the car with my dad when he turned to me and said, “You should be proud of yourself. You have accomplished so much for a 23 year old.” He then listed off some of my biggest accomplishments in the last 23 years of my life and even I was impressed with myself. Take a second to sit back and remember where you wanted to be a couple years ago and where you are now. We are all on a journey, and sometimes it’s important to look back on that path to remind yourself how far you’ve come.

4. There Are No Perfect Timelines

When I was in high school I had a perfectly mapped out plan for my life. Go to college at x age, graduate at x age, start working my dream job after that, get married around x age, and so on! It only made sense to me that, that was the plan for everyone. That’s just what you did. If you have that mentality, throw it out the window. There is no such thing as a perfect timeline. If you want to take a year away from university to go find yourself in Bali, book the ticket! If you’re 46 and want to finally get your degree, apply for university. If you have a family at 20, 30, or 40, it doesn’t matter. For some reason we compare our timelines with other people around the “same stages of life”, but you’re not the same, so chances are you’re not in the same stage of life. Do what is best for you in whatever timeline that may be. You are never to late to start your dream job/ a new hobby/ start a new relationship. You’re never to late to change your life and change the game.

5. Recognize the Changes In Yourself

Sometimes we look at our big tangible accomplishments, and we forget to look at the changes in ourselves from along the way. We have all been through hard trials, we all face different struggles and problems. Those hardships are real and as we overcome them the leave an impression in our hearts. What kind of person have you become, because of the challenges in your life? Are you more compassionate? Are you more understanding? Do you include other’s better? Can you have deeper conversations? As you are reminiscing on your self-reflection trip in India, your business venture, or your family, remember to look back on the hard things and be grateful for what they taught you. The other stuff honestly doesn’t matter. What matters is the kind of person you became because of it all.

I cannot reiterate this enough, there is a past you who is SO proud of the things that you have accomplished. Remind yourself that daily, when you’re putting yourself in a disappointment pit, or when you are having an off day. There is no such thing as a failure if you continue to keep trying or have the willingness to start again. I’m proud of how far you have come and I hope this week you remind yourself of those things. If you need a reminder, subscribe to my blog to get A Little Piece of Bri Elise Weekly!

xoxo

Bri Elise

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