Last week I was meeting with a client who has been incredibly focused and is making tremendous strides towards her health and fitness goals.

At the end of our meeting, I couldn’t help myself.

“I hope you don’t mind me saying,” I said. “But I’m really proud of you.”

She appreciated the sentiment - and as as I reflected on our conversation later, I realized that as adults, we don’t hear that phrase very often.

I’d argue that there are some people out there who haven’t received that type of praise in years.

I think many of us were raised with parents who perhaps showed their affection instead of saying it. I don’t ever remember my mom telling me that she was proud of me - though occasionally I’d catch her bragging about something I did - and that second hand knowledge was the only reassurance I got from her about anything I was doing.

So many of us already have trouble owning our accomplishments. A few weeks ago in my personal development class, I asked the group to name a proud moment from the past week - a question I borrowed from a weekly meeting questionnaire we fill out at the gym.

And I watched as 10 women sat with pens hovering over a piece of paper, trying to come up with a moment of which they felt proud. Most did, after giving it a few minutes of thought.

We minimize the good and amplify the negative.

So today, I guess I’m just reminding you that sometimes we all need to hear those words of praise. Sometimes we need to know that someone else out there sees us. That they see our hard work and effort and how we our entire being into what we do.

Sometimes we just need a little nod of the head - a little slap on the back - and that one little phrase.

I’m proud of you.