Two Things I'll do for Myself This Year

It the time of year where all the blog post surface of 10 Things to Focus on This Year, 5 Ways to make 2016 the Best Year Yet, and the like.  This post may be one of those kinds of posts.  But this post is mostly for me, and only a little bit for you.

I have resolved to do two things this year.  These resolutions aren't things where there is a clear end result...and I think that's perfectly fine.  The thing that will be measurable though, is how I feel in the end.  

I've resolved to give more compliments and apologize for myself less.

Complement Others More

Compliments are great.  I like to give them and I like to receive them.  This year I want to change the way I give compliments and in turn give more of them.  I don't know about you, but usually a compliment I receive or give is something a long the lines of 'I like your sweatshirt'.  This year, I want to give more compliments that focus less on how I feel and focus more on building the other person up.  It shouldn't matter if I like the sweatshirt - what should matter is that the sweatshirt looks good on you.  I want to give more compliments that focus less on how I feel and more on how I see you feeling (does that make sense?).  I want to acknowledge that the other person should be the focus of the compliment and I should leave the word 'I' out of it.  

That shirt looks great on you.     Your hair color/style is beautiful.

That lip color is awesome on you.     Those shoes are really stylish.

Apologize Less

Apologizing for myself less goes hand in hand with this.  I will not downplay myself when I am given a compliment.  I also won't apologize for certain characteristics about me - I'm loud, I laugh a lot, I take things seriously, and I see the problem from many sides.  I'm often told to be quiet, that things aren't that funny, that I really should just chill out, and that I'm causing problems by bringing up various points.  (I really like to hash out things so that anything that can go wrong is already planned for...believe me, I'm pretty sure that is helpful.)  Zach has never told me I'm too loud.....and I love that. I've been told my whole life that I talk too loud.  That is one comment that bugs the heck out of me.  I will not apologize for the things about myself that have been that way for 28 years.  I will also stop belittling myself when something positive is said to me, about me.  I will not downplay the compliment by taking jabs at myself.  I will stop apologizing for being awesome and for having a few quirks!

These are just two of a few things I've resolved to do this year.  My word of the year is Forward and I just want to keep growing.  I still need to do a reflection post on my word of 2015 which was Explore and I still need to find a little quote to go with my current word.  Those posts are in the works but I just haven't formed words for them yet!

What are some small things you're doing for yourself this year?

xoxo, Moe