Do You See Greatness in Yourself?

Do you ever look back on your life and wish you stayed the same in a sense? Do you wish you could be the “past version” of you because compared to who you are now, you liked the braver, bolder and fearless old you? You had more fun, kicked butt at life and let’s face it, weighed a little less too. Last year, I took some time to reflect on who I was as a person ten years ago to who I am today to only realize what I let fade.

Greatness. I let others peel away my greatness one layer at a time during the last decade of my life through relationships/friendships that have ended, terrible work environments, life experiences and not taking care of myself. It was painful yet humbling at the same time when I see who I’ve become.

I’m disappointed in myself in many ways. From letting my flexibility go (I used to be able to feel the wind on my face when I did highkicks) to eating unhealthy to not doing things out of fear. Why did I go in the opposition direction and more importantly, why did I let this happen for so long?

Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of seeing greatness in myself.

The good news is that greatness can always be found or regained. - Huong Vo Click To Tweet

I made a decision to get my greatness back beginning with small action steps and reminding myself that as much as new experiences and chapters are scary, they’re just as exciting and great for me.

If you feel the same way I do, you’ve come to the right place! I want to help you find your greatness again by sharing what I’m doing.

Reteach yourself old skills and/or new ones

I’m reteaching myself old skills I once had, love and miss about myself. When Nate sent me this video last year, it really inspired me to pick up my violin again. 

I’m also working to get back my athletic body and flexibility. This “old skill” I missed came with physical and mental benefits that I never realized helped me do so much when I felt healthy and had lots of energy. By doing Kayla’s BBG program, mixing it up with weights, boxing and other activities, I know I’ll be feeling like Super Woman again.

Reflect: What do you miss about your old self? What did hobbies or skills did you practice in the past that made you happy?
Do: Make a list of 1-3 things, go back and take 15-30 minutes a day to relearn what once made you happy! 

A new skill I’m teaching myself is coding. I signed up with Code Academy awhile back and did a few hours and stopped as I didn’t see a need for it at the time. Now, for what I envision and want to build, I’m teaching myself coding/CSS to make that happen. I can do as much as I want and pick up where I left off. 

Reflect: When it comes to new skills, look at what you want to create and go backwards. By doing so, you’ll learn new skills you need to gain experience for the end result you’ve envisioned!
Do: Write down what you want to create. Then break it down into small steps. After that, break those steps into smaller steps. Even if it’s one small thing, take action everyday and chip away!

Read more.

I was opposite of most kids growing up. I loved reading and read whenever I ate. Who else read under the sheets with a flashlight? That was me. I often lost sleep because I loved reading that much. However, I didn’t like it in college as much because I didn’t have control over what I read.

Being an entrepreneur really forced me to get better through self-education. I love reading so much now that I buy books faster than I can finish them, ha!

I’ve read some books this year, but in my opinion, not nearly enough to help me strengthen my mindset. I’m currently re-reading Tony Robbins’ Money Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom, about to start on Lewis Howes’ newest book, School of Greatness (his podcast is the bomb dot com!) after I finish #AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur’s Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness. 

Reflect: What do you need help with? Who is doing what you want to do now or in the future?
Do: Take note of what successful people are not only doing, but what they’re reading. For example, if all of them are talking about how Think and Grow Rich changed their lives, that’s a huge clue that you should be reading it too!

Here’s an extra nugget: Read your favorite authors’ blogs and listen to their podcasts (if they have one) to get to know them. Try their programs, learn their mindset and what they did to get to where they are now. Buy their books (and read them, of course), attend their book signings to show your support and start building relationships with them. It’s scary to do this at first because you have this mentality that they’re of higher status. However, you’ll learn quickly that they’re normal people who put on their pants one leg at a time like you and me; they’ve just have had more learning experiences and failed faster to achieve their goals than you.

Being supportive of others and their dreams is what it’s all about for me. I’ve attended two of Jon Acuff’s meet and greets these last few years in Dallas and upon seeing him again, he remembered my name! For someone like me, it’s awesome to see that after many book tours and you know, life, that Jon would remember my name. Not to mention saying it right – queso points for you, Jon. That moment just made me think about what kind of a person I want to be when I’m in my next level of success. 

Reflect: Who would you love to have in your life?
Do: Make a list of people that you’d love to be friends with (yes, the big dogs included) and have in your life to support. Start small by contributing to the discussion through likes/comments on their Facebook and Instagram posts and be genuine about it. You’ll become more visible even to busy people like Lewis Howes and Jon Acuff (I call them book buddies). Trust me, you’ll be memorable because they’re always seeing your support even if it’s through a comment. You’ll never know who you’ll end up having relationships with, so start building them!

Remember that being around successful people and keeping your mind focused on positive things will keep you on track!

Be more protective of your time.

I used to say yes all the time. I said yes to coffee/dinner dates, helping people rewrite their resumes (at no charge) along with many other things. It was to a point where where I never got anything done on my to-do lists.

A few big takeaways I learned from Darren Hardy a few years ago at an event in California was 1) learn to say no and 2) don’t take other people’s monkeys (read his book, The Compound Effect to know what I’m talking about). Things are different now that I’ve learned to say no. I have more time to do what’s important for me and those I love because of boundaries I’ve set. I don’t answer emails or Facebook messages after a certain time and have said no to coffee/dinner dates to friends to reserve parts of my day for “me time” or “grinding time” and this is coming from someone who loves to be around people!

Reflect: Are you finding that you never have enough time to do what you want to do? What are you doing that takes up most of your time?
Do: Gain control of your schedule by setting “cut off” times for responding to emails, Facebook messages and returning phone calls. Compromise on hang out times and dinner dates with friends. Reserve time for family only and nothing else and stick to them!

It’s okay to say no to things.

Learn to say no to people too. You’ll learn that your family and friends will respect your time too once you set your boundaries and respect your time.

Repeat after me, “It’s okay to say no.” Saying no equates to saying your time is important because we all know that time is more valuable than money and definitely something we cannot buy. Know your worth and say no!

Track your progress.

I was never taught to track my progress. I just practiced, executed and repeated until I hit my goals. To be honest, I didn’t start tracking my progress until a few years ago. I know, guilty as charged.

For the health and business side of things, I recommend you order something like this awesome training journal and this business planner or find a journal/planner that fits your (life)style and start tracking to see where you’re at and to stay the course. 

Reflect: Take a step back and see why you’re not hitting your goals. Whatever your goals are, take a hard look and be honest with yourself.
Do: Write down your progress and review. Review your progress once a month, quarterly and yearly to see how far you’ve come (not how short you’ve fallen). From there, adjust your action plan(s). Don’t forget to celebrate milestones along the way. A small victory is still a victory. Teach yourself to celebrate (as funny as it sounds, I do this after I finish every workout)! 

Tracking your progress is just like taking photos of yourself when you eat right and exercise. When you see improvements, it motivates you to keep going! 

Throughout these last few years, I kept dwelling on the fact that I liked the old, disciplined, amazing me and wondered where I had disappeared. As I started trying to find myself again, I realized that for some people, good things happen because they believed that they have greatness in themselves right from the start (this was my mindset in the past) and for others, their greatness is discovered during the journey (my mindset now).

It’s okay if you don’t see greatness in yourself just yet.

The truth is, we all have it in ourselves. Some see it from the start and use it as a launching pad to get to where they want to go and for others, some find their greatness along the way and then start believing in themselves.

The catch is the strong desire to want to see the best version of ourselves.

Do you see greatness in yourself?