I did. A lot!

And so do a lot of the women business owners I speak to.

Turns out we’re good at it.

Why do we do it?

For me and for many others, it’s because we never feel like we’ve done enough. So we ‘should’ on ourselves. I should have done … I should be finished … I should have made more … And on and on we go.

‘Shoulding’ ourselves in the foot.

Guilt-tripping ourselves.

Does it help?

It sure never helped me. I was so hard on myself. I was my worst boss ever.

I ‘beat myself up’ whenever I didn’t seem to ‘get it right’, when things didn’t work out the way I’d hoped; whatever it was, whatever right was. I did it.

And, you know what? It didn’t help me one little bit.

Truth is, it hindered me way more than it helped me.

I didn’t realise it at the time. I was too involved. Too far in. Too deep in my dark hole. My doing place. My ‘shoulding’ place. I couldn’t see the light for the trees.

Here’s the truth I came to realise.

The way to achieve more is to appreciate every bit of progress you make. No matter how small and insignificant it seems.

Be grateful for everything. Even when bad stuff happens, as it does, look for and be grateful for the lessons it teaches you. Then let it go and move on to the better stuff that’s waiting for you.