In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, I want to toss out a different idea to embrace the importance of what happens between our ears. Many have heard of the concept of writing a letter to your past self. I love the idea and how it provides time to reflect on lessons learned, the experiences we’ve embarked on, and overall perspective. Let me add a twist to this idea. Instead of writing a letter to you from 10 years ago (or pick a different timeframe), write a letter to yourself today on what you’ve accomplished the past 10 years.

We all will react differently to this idea. Some may be eager to start brainstorming all the progress they’ve made in various aspects of their life. Others may go right to the lack of progress they’ve made and the story they shape in their mind is one of failure. And this gets to the importance of writing ourselves the letter. We need to invest time reflecting well beyond just the initial thoughts that readily become available. We need to go further. We need to dig deeper and uncover a more holistic story to who we’ve evolved to become these past 10 years.

Some of us may find ourselves being sucked into thoughts of areas we may have regressed – gained weight, career hasn’t progressed as intended, some relationships may have dissipated. Naturally over a longer period there will be struggles we find in our lives. But that’s only part of the story. And too often we settle on an incomplete story. This idea of writing a letter to yourself about your accomplishments is intended to give yourself the platform to create a more complete story. A story that not only settles on where we feel we’ve fallen short, but also incorporates the aspects of life we’ve won, no matter how small the win may be.

Take time to think about questions like…

• How much have I learned and contributed to at work?
• What friends or family members have I had a positive impact on?
• How have I helped give back to my community?
• Who have I mentored or helped provide insight to so they could flourish?
• What knowledge and insights have I gained on topics I’m passionate about?
• What hobbies have I picked up?

Too often we get into this comparison mode where we can always find someone who makes more money, takes fancier trips, looks more physically fit, or is more popular. We get into this routine of looking at everyone’s perceived “best” and at times feel like we’re coming up short. It’s a trap and it takes our energy away from looking within for the authentic success we’ve had and the path we’re working hard to keep progressing on. This version of “letter to me” carves out all that outside noise and comparisons and focuses within to celebrate how far we’ve come these past 10 years.

As I explored the past 10 years I started to realize the relationships I’ve been fortunate enough to form (including the greatest gift of becoming a dad), finding my love and passion for leadership and being a positive influence, how writing and doing speaking engagements have propelled the impact I feel like I can make, and so much more. There’s a lot to smile about in the past 10 years – I know there are a lot of painful moments mixed in there but let the accomplishments be the bright light in this letter to yourself.

Take your step: Give it a try. Take your time writing the letter to yourself and soak up each win to help you mentally walk through the great parts of the past 10 years. There are plenty of wins ready to be remembered if we invest the time to give ourselves the credit we deserve.