Making a list, then doin' the work.

Yesterday,I wrote about the need to develop an action plan. That plan starts off with listing your strengths and weaknesses. So you might be asking, "OK, Irwin, how do I determine what MY strengths and weaknesses are?" Today, I will give you a skill assessment list that will, hopefully, point out where you are doing well, and where you need some work.
Section 1 - Positive thought about yourself

• Acceptence; The ability to accept yourself and your emotions non-judgmentally
• Positive self-views; The ability to see yourself as a good and worthwhile human (or frog)
• Clarity: The ability to understand what you value, how you feel, and who you are.
• Positive reappraisal; The ability to change your thoughts that will help you experience longer-lasting, more intense, or more frequent positive emotion.

Section 2 - Positive thought about others

• Rejection tolerance; (this one's HARD, for me anyway) The ability to perceive the actions of others as inclusive rather than rejecting.
• Emapthy; The ability to put yourself in another's shoes and see the world through their eyes.
• Gratitude; The ability to be thanjful for experiences and people/frogs you have in your life.
• Letting go; The ability to stop fretting and thinking about negative interpersonal situations.

Section 3 - Positive behaviors involving yourself

• ​Planning; The ability to develop effective strategies and take actions that progress you towards your goals.
• Growth mindset; The belief that your strengths can be developed through hard work and dedication.
• Self-care; The ability to resist engaging in unhealthy behaviors to increase happiness.
• Prioritizing positivity; The ability to make time for, and consistently schedule, activities that you enjoy.

Section 4 - Positive behaviors involving others

• Kindness; The ability to be friendly, generous, andconsiderate of others.
• Autonomy; The ability to resist the influence of others, make your own independent decisions, and take action based on your unique values.
• Expressivity; The ability to easily communicate and share intimate aspects of yourself with others.
• Assertiveness; The ability to stand up for yourself, speak up, and communicate your needs.

After you've gone through your lists, find just one skill that is a weakness for you and work on that. If you have more than one weakness (and I think most of us will) try not to improve on too many at a time. Start with one, then move on to the next. Focusing on too many skills all at once will make it difficult to see any improvements. And that gets discouraging.
Once you've decided on which skill to work on, the next step is to schedule a time to practice it. And, of course, it's vey important NOT to skip the practice. You remember what happened when you skipped your piano lesson, right? Nothing. You never learned to play the piano and now you wished you had. So practice, practice, practice.
I hope that you find some, or all, of this helpful. Now that I have my list of skills to work on, it's time for me to hop off....
Wishing you a beautiful and HAPPY day!