What my first coach challenged me to do

I always ask clients to talk about who champions them in their life - friends, family, colleagues? Nobody ever includes themselves.

It’s not surprising. It isn’t what we’re taught to do. Our brain doesn’t naturally go there, we think it’s arrogant. What would it be like to be your greatest champion?

My first coach Elizabeth, a feisty New Yorker, set me a challenge one day to put up notes in my house to remind me how amazing I am. Leave notes to champion myself in places where I would keep seeing them. I can’t remember our conversation, but I suspect I was beating myself up for all the things I hadn’t done and how useless I was. I said yes to the challenge and inside thought this won’t work.

Those simple notes proved very powerful in helping remind me to give myself some credit. To say to myself that yes I am amazing, that I’m doing really well in all my roles, that I’m a human who sometimes needs a bit of slack.

The notes are still up and have been joined over the years by new ones. Often I don’t notice them, and at other times, they are staring me in the face as a reminder to champion and appreciate myself at that moment. They are a reminder to change the self talk to something more in the spirit of Oprah or Michael Johnson!

It matters.

It feels good to be championed. It releases the good chemicals in our body. Why wouldn’t you want to create more of that?

Remember what it was like when you were little and praised by a teacher or parent. That feeling of having someone notice you. That enormous smile on your face and that buzzing feeling inside. You can do that for yourself.

We can’t always rely on others to notice or know when we need it. We can give ourselves the gift of championing and appreciating ourselves anytime we choose.

It helps anchor us in the present moment.

It’s a positivity tool. We are wired to the negative, and positive tools help us create new neural pathways in the brain which, with practice, will become our new normal without us necessarily having to keep post-it notes in the wardrobe!

Championing yourself builds your strength and your inner resilience. It helps you in those difficult moments when you think you can’t, or you’re not enough or people won’t listen. You can, you are, they will!

This matters. Start today.

What action will you take to champion yourself?