Today, I want to share a tip that I read about and have kept for several years now. It’s easy, it’s passive, and has great mental health benefits when you need them. Think of it as a power booster in your mental health self-care toolkit.
A kudos document is an area where you keep personal compliments and praise. I keep a digital one that is specific to my work, but you can also adapt this for personal use or turn it into a physical board. Another easy option is to create a folder on your phone and save screenshots into it. Mine is a running document where I paste in text and embed screenshots. It’s comprised of positive feedback I receive from my newsletter, random notes or emails that have been sent to me, and social posts.
When do I use it? Whenever I’m feeling low, unmotivated, or like I’m not doing much in my work. My goals for this newsletter are simple: impacting one person per issue is considered successful (no feedback needed per issue, it’s just how I aim to write) and be a free resource in coffee marketing. I have thought about stopping this newsletter or not sending an issue on time. When this happens, I look back on the positive feedback I’ve received and documented in my kudos note.
This is not meant to be an egotistical document where you refer to it to boost an overinflated sense of self. It’s for those of us who might operate alone or be in an environment where you don’t receive much positive feedback.
My basic tips for the document:
- Keep it in an easily accessible place (mine is in my Bear notes app)
- Unless it’s going to be text-only, make sure it can handle screenshots or videos or whatever else type of media you are going to use
- Date the entries
- If you need a filter for what goes into the doc, I use my reaction to judge. For example, if I go, “Awwww” or feel warm fuzzies, it goes right in.
We all have low days. We all have those days where we think nothing we’ve done matters or impacts anyone. I am absolutely my biggest critic and when you’re self-employed, it’s very easy to get lost in this. This is where the kudos document shines.
Do you keep a kudos document? Has it helped you? I’d love to know if any of you start one after reading this and find it successful.
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