Dear Reader, 

This past weekend was my birthday so I took a little break for my birthday from posting. But one of the greatest tenants of living in gratitude is to actively encourage yourself. Most of the negative scripts that subconsciously run through our minds and break us away from the path of gratitude are actually brought to us by friends and family. Sometimes we have to close our ears and guard our minds and hearts.

 I’m reminded of the Tri-City Singers & Donald Lawrence’s song “Encourage Yourself.” The lyrics of the second verse are: Sometimes you (sometimes you) have to encourage yourself/Gotta pat your own self on the back, yeah, yeah/Sometimes you have to speak victory during the test/And no matter how you feel (no matter how you feel)/Speak the word over your life, oh, oh/Speak the word, and you will be healed (you will be healed)/Speak over yourself (speak over yourself)/Encourage yourself (encourage yourself) in the Lord.

So today I wanted to talk about some practical tips to engage in encouraging yourself. 

Encouragement on a monthly basis

One of the ways we can encourage ourselves on a monthly basis is by engaging in reflection. What’s different about this month than last month? The issue with this kind of open-ended reflection is it may cause you to reflect on the negative things. You may consider all the mistakes you made instead of all the wins. This is why I have a google drive encouragement folder. This folder contains the compliments & words of encouragement others have made to uplift me throughout the month or even years prior. It is helpful to be reminded of who I am. Record the good so that you can remind yourself. 

Encouragement on a weekly basis

Engage in weekly record keeping. For me,  this means I have a weekly work journal. What are my work wins for the week? What did I accomplish? I also have a weekly spiritual journal. What are my spiritual wins for the week? What did Pastor say this week that’s giving me life that I need to carry with me this week? I also engage in weekly habit tracking. Did I take 10,000 steps every single day this week? Awesome. Did I read a whole book? Cool. 

Encouragement on a daily basis

God is my refuge and strength. In order for me to walk in that, believe that, and practice that, I need to have contact with God. My prayer life looks different on different days. If I can spend a whole hour with God, praying aloud and singing in my studio apartment, that’s awesome. If all I can do is pull up Jireh on Spotify and listen to it while I read a single devotional on the Bible app, that’s ok. What’s been giving me some life these days is prayer journaling. I spend part of my morning praying on the page. I think this helps me start the day in a place of confidence and not in a place of scarcity and anxiety.