There is a good practice I learnt this summer, and that comes really handy when you get memory loss... What kind of memory loss are we talking about? The one that has to do with our past and present achievements, the one that we bury when we are too tough with ourselves or are going through a bad moment. Has this happened to you? You did something great at work, or you were compassionate towards a friend and listened to his/her during a long time, or you just were proud of yourself for having finally taken that yoga class. And one critique comes, or a bad coincidence happens, or something distracts you from your purpose, and immediately you feel like a failure, like a clumsy person. This is when the memory loss kicks in!
Don't let this happen. When you feel the inner critic coming, or you feel that what you have done so far is just meaningless, write the following things down:
- The achievement of the day: I am sure you did something nice today for somebody else or for you. Maybe you smiled at somebody on the tram, maybe you let an older person sit down and you stood up. Write it down :)
- Select a topic that you are feeling particularly down about, and recall all the achievements around it, for the past 3 to 5 years. Go down memory lane and write these memories down. You will find great things! The other day I counted all the years I studied, I re-read my thesis, I remembered the present my parents gave me for my graduation. How can you forget that?
- Talk to somebody close to you, that can remind you how great you are. It is not a question of compliments, it is pure realism!
Most importantly... when somebody compliments you, just say "Thank you". I heard once that in some cultures, when someone gets a compliment, this very person replies something like "thank you, but what I am wearing is old", or "thanks, but I did not do anything special". It is indeed special, you are just experiencing memory loss.
Wanna feel better about who you are, or do you want to define your passion? Come to my event in Zurich :)
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