When is the last time you praised yourself? 

When public speaking, running wellness days or working with teams and organizations, I often ask staff when was the last time they praised themselves?   
I often get lots of blank faces! Let's face it, when was the last time you left work and gave yourself a well deserved pat on the back for what you had achieved that day? When was the last time you gave yourself some praise?  
Self-praise actually increases your self-esteem and smashes criticism into tiny little pieces, so get into the habit of giving yourself some great words of love, encouragement and praise. 
Our mirror mission in this week’s blog is simply to say something nice about YOU and praise yourself EVERY TIME YOU LOOK IN THE MIRROR. 
I know you may find this quite difficult and may even start protesting with the following excuses: 
•    I can’t think of anything nice to praise myself about 
•    How can I praise myself if I feel so ashamed of myself? 
•    I’m not sure about this, isn’t it arrogant to praise yourself? 
•    It won’t make any difference so there is no point 
Well… I have heard these excuses before and they don’t wash with me. They are just excuses for not doing something and they no longer serve you. How will you know if you don’t try? 
Case Study 
Claire had been working with me for a few weeks when I suggested that she praise herself in the mirror at least twice a day. ‘No way’ she exclaimed, ‘What have I done that deserves my own praise? I haven’t done anything worthy’. I then discussed with Claire what she felt she needed to achieve before she felt worthy of her own praise. ‘Oh’ she said ‘something big like passing my driving test or an exam’. 
Can you see how Claire had set herself up so that it was very difficult for her to praise herself? It needed to be something totally amazing for her to say a kind word about herself. I then shared with Claire the achievements that I had praised myself for that same morning. They included the following: 
•    I got out of bed on time 
•    I brushed my teeth and had a shower 
•    I went for an early walk   
•    I put my breakfast dishes in the dishwasher!  
Claire was so shocked that I gave myself praise for getting out of bed. Why not I said – I deserve my own praise. I love myself! The good news is that after I continued to nag at her in our coaching session, she agreed to give it a go. 
Here is what Claire said after doing this action step for a couple of weeks: 
‘I really didn’t want to do this exercise. It felt stupid praising myself for just cleaning my teeth or having a shower. I wasn’t happy about doing it. Then, after about a week, I realised how really nice it felt to be congratulating myself and I was starting to feel I deserved it. A month on, I am happy to do this exercise as it really has made a positive impact on how I feel about myself. I feel rather proud now when I just get through the day.'
So, what are you waiting for – go to that mirror and start singing your praises! 
Lisa Phillips is a Professional Speaker based in Sydney, Australia. Lisa specialises in working with teams and speaking on topics such as confidence, resilience, self empowerment and self responsibility. To book Lisa to speak at your event or have her run a workshop for you, please contact lisa@lisaphillips.com.au