Smile File. A while back, I wrote about a Win Bucket: a way to capture positive feedback and your wins both for your own satisfaction and to help with performance reviews. The bucket of accomplishments provided a log of what went well, not just recently, but over a longer period of time and also gave you a place to go on a not-so-good day and realize it is not always bad. The practice works well and I have advanced my thinking and would like to re-brand the exercise.
Same idea – collect your wins in a single location: journal, notes file on your computer, physical vessel. When you are suffering from Imposter Syndrome and feeling like you have nothing to add, or you don’t match up to your own or someone else’s expectations, refer to your Smile File and realize you may not know everything about everything, but you do have a point of view to share. Keeping track of your wins can remind you that you are not a ‘fake’ and that any contribution can add to the advancement of an idea or project.
The Smile File is also a great way to transition from work to personal life at the end of each day. With many of us still working from home, it is hard to distinguish and hold boundaries at the end of your day. We often take what is weighing on us into our evening, showing up with overhang when we want to be present with children, friends and family.
No matter how rough and tough work has been, that moment of pause allows you to reflect, exhale and move into your non-work hours a little lighter. And don’t your kids and partners deserve that? A half full, rather than a half version of you. That reflection can make a world of difference as you turn down your work burner and turn up your children, partner, friend or self-care burners to enjoy your evening and re-charge.
Try it out and let me know if the Smile File helps with performance reviews, Imposter Syndrome, work-life sway, and gratitude. Start your file and see if you smile more.