You may have heard of or keep a gratitude journal where you jot down three unique things for which you are grateful each day.  This practice, when done for just one week, has been shown to boost happiness for up to six months!  I was so inspired by the concept of gratitude that I choose to name my company:
Three Gratitudes.

Another great practice that has positive applications for both your personal and professional life is a "success journal."  It's similar to a gratitude journal but you write down three successes each day.  When professionals in the workplace take just a few minutes to document and celebrate their accomplishments each day, it's helped them negotiate raises and earn better performance reviews later.  Our successes definitely add up over time; we often have forgotten the meaningful ways that we've contributed to our families, community or company months later, so a success journal can help us remember and reflect.

Have you kept a gratitude journal or success journal?  I'd love to hear about your experience!  

"Treating yourself with kindness is the cornerstone to finding peace in a frantic world," Mark Williams and Danny Penman, Mindfulness.

On hectic days when we feel frazzled or the times when we feel criticized (either self-inflicted or from others), mindfulness can really help us shift our perspective from negativity to one of self-compassion.  

Compassionate Mindfulness is a path towards balance by:

• accepting, rather than constantly striving
• being in the present moment, rather than engaging in mental time travel to the past or the future
• facing life with curiosity and humanity, rather than avoidance and overwhelm
  

Compassionate mindfulness gives us permission to make sure that we have at least one nourishing activity each day rather than a depleting laundry list of chores.  How can you mindfully nourish yourself today?

In addition to Mark Williams and Danny Penman's book: Mindfulness, other great resources on mindfulness and self-compassion are Kristin Neff (Self-Compassion and her 2013 TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvtZBUSplr4​) and Christopher Germer (The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion).  

We all struggle with wanting things to be different sometimes, and I found these nuggets of wisdom to be so helpful when we're in that place.  Here are a few uplifting insights from Shannon Kaiser's article: "18 Signs You're Exactly Where You Should Be in Life (Even If It Doesn't Feel Like It):" 

• You often celebrate how far you’ve come instead of focusing on how far you still need to go.
• You've let go of trying to find your purpose and instead live each day on purpose.
• You treat yourself kindly with compassion and respect.
• You know that difficult roads lead to divine destinations.
• You prioritize your health and your own happiness.  You realize that nothing else can work right unless you do.

​Listening to a teleseminar this week, one of the participants commented that she felt really behind.  The moderator noted that feeling stems from a Western mindset which creates anxiety, urgency and even a sense of panic.  An Eastern approach is that we are where we need to be: we learn and grow at the pace that is right for us.  We can shift from feeling behind & focusing of how far we still need to go to celebrating how much we have done and transformed.  How will you celebrate where you are?

Link to the full article: ​http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-21637/18-signs-youre-exactly-where-you-should-be-in-life-even-if-it-doesnt-feel-like.html