57. Why Your Progress Matters—Even If No One Notices

Ever skipped celebrating your progress because no one else noticed? In this heartfelt episode, host Jenny Lytle, RN shares a powerful real-life moment that sparked an essential reminder: your steps still count—even if they’re not being tracked by your watch.

From fitness apps to productivity guilt to missed deadlines, Jenny opens up about the quiet pressure we put on ourselves to prove our progress. And she delivers a gentle but firm truth: you don't need external validation to know you're making meaningful change.

Perfect for nurses, caregivers, and high-achievers navigating burnout and busy schedules, this episode is your invitation to pause, reflect, and give yourself more grace.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why your actions matter even when no one sees them
• How to stop discrediting small wins
• The importance of self-compassion over self-judgment
• How to reframe procrastination with purpose
• A simple mindset shift to reduce overwhelm this week

🎧 Whether you're drying your hair, walking between tasks, or squeezing in one more “to-do,” this episode will meet you right where you are—and remind you that you are enough.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or like there’s never enough time, I’ve got something just for you! Head to https://selfcareisntselfish.com to grab your FREE copy of my book, Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The Compassionate Nurse’s Step-by-Step Guide to Personalized Stress Relief. It’s packed with simple, effective strategies to help you prioritize your needs—without guilt—so you can feel energized, focused, and ready to take on the day. Go to https://selfcareisntselfish.com 

Feeling stressed? Grab my quick and easy Busy Nurses' Guide to Less Stress for practical stress relief that truly fits into your life! https://www.jennylytle.com/guide

Looking for connection with people who get the stress and self-care struggles of nurses and caregivers? Check out https://thenursesbreakroom.com

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennylytlern/

More ways to connect here: https://linktr.ee/jennylytle

Chapters

• 0:58 Welcome to Nurse's Break Room
• 1:34 The Watch Doesn't Make Steps Count
• 3:07 Self-Compassion Without External Validation
• 6:27 My Presentation Submission Story
• 8:26 Self-Talk: What You'd Tell a Friend
• 9:12 Week's Challenge and Closing Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:29

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the nurse's break room with Jenny Lytle RN. Today I am so excited to share this with you because I was just upstairs getting ready and I was drying my hair part way and then I got kind of hot and I thought, you know what, I'm gonna go in there and get my tea going. So I paused and I went in and poured some of the hot water in there so that I could do that. And I walked back and forth a couple of times and I thought, well, you know what, the extra steps aren't going to hurt me. And then here's the kicker. I thought, well, I don't have my watch on. So I've worn a Fitbit for years and a month or so ago it was having issues not charging. And I thought, you know what? I want to go ahead and consider getting an Apple Watch. My son found me a great deal on one and so I got it and I love it.

Speaker 1: 1:21

But this is something that happened with the Fitbit as well. There were times when I wouldn't have it on. And I think, well, it doesn't count, like my steps don't count because they're not counting on the watch. And that hit me right then like how ridiculous that is, and I think that every time I'm like, okay, like they still count, it's still good for me, right. But I still have those thoughts that pop up and I feel like I'm probably not the only one, and I'm so sure that I'm not the only one, that I stopped what I was doing, grabbed my computer, came downstairs and started recording this because I didn't wanna forget what I was thinking, because it's so important.

Speaker 1: 2:06

The things that we tell ourselves, the things that we think don't matter, if only we know about it. I think that's one of the bad things that social media has done for us for sure. We feel like it has to be out there for everybody to see, or maybe at work, it's for our boss to recognize it, or somebody to give us this pat on the back, when in reality we know and that's enough. Like the things that we're doing, right, the things that we're doing that improve our health, that give us a break when we need a break, those matter. Whether anybody else knows about them or not, it doesn't matter if it's steps on a watch or if it's just steps that you took. It all helps to make you better, helps to make me better, but we don't always recognize that when it's just us that knows about it. And, in reality, how important is that really? Because you may be able to fool other people. You may be able to present an image that makes other people think you've got it all together. I know occasionally I do that Most of the time, I'm pretty open about the fact that I don't have it all together.

Speaker 1: 3:36

I've made a lot of mistakes. I continue to make mistakes, but I've learned so much from them and that's part of the reason that I'm so open about it is because I want others to be able to learn from that as well. We know our shortcomings and we know our challenges and we can be so incredibly hard on ourselves. We know our challenges and we can be so incredibly hard on ourselves. Right now, I'm listening to a book by Dr Christine Neff and another gentleman, and I don't remember it off the top of my head, but it is about self-compassion, and most of us are really good at being compassionate toward other people, especially if you're someone who happens to be in the healthcare space, in the caregiver space, that's something that is just natural. However, having that self-compassion, giving ourselves grace, giving ourselves a break, is important, without judgment is something that we can struggle with a little bit more. And so, you know, I've encouraged you before and I will continue to do so, because I know I need the reminder myself as well when you're having that negative self talk, when you're having those times when you think, well, you know what like this is, this is little, it doesn't really matter. This small thing that I did, you know, yeah, I did it and I've been putting it off, but I've got these 25 other things that I haven't done, or maybe I did it, but I did it later than I was supposed to. You know, actually I just had that happen. I am going to be part of a summit coming up here shortly and I was putting together my presentation and I am frequently a last minute gal.

Speaker 1: 5:23

I have a tendency to overbook myself a bit and I thought, okay, you know what, I was right there in the homestretch and then I realized I didn't really know how I wanted to record it with the slides. I knew that I didn't want it to be just slides. I wanted it to be like a little picture of me in there, so that it wasn't just staring at slides. But I knew I wanted to use slides because I can get off track if I don't. So I recorded the whole thing. It went pretty well. I was like, hey, this is awesome.

Speaker 1: 5:51

And I went upstairs to edit it and realized that all I had was the slides. It was just the slides. And then you heard my voice and I thought, okay, like the content is good, but that's not what I want. I want it to be something that feels more relatable, and part of it is I do my own tech stuff, so I'm not super techie. But I thought, okay, it's like 10 minutes till time for it to be turned in. I had time to edit it and get it done and I realized that I was either going to have it be late or I was going to have it be good, the way that I wanted it to be, and so I chose with going late and I felt bad about that. In reality, there's plenty of time there, but she had requested a specific deadline and I felt bad because I couldn't meet that because I had procrastinated. But I ended up getting it turned in. It was about an hour and 45 minutes late and I'm proud of the way that it turned out. It is not super polished, it is not super scripted, because that's just not how I am, but it is the way that I wanted to show up.

Speaker 1: 7:05

And so, even in those times when maybe we're not proud of the entire process, we can still celebrate the thing that we did well, and we don't always have to have that qualifier of well. I know I did all these things wrong, but at least I did this one thing right. No, just celebrate. Hey, you know what I really did? A great job on this, that's okay. That's what you would say to a friend, and that's what I encourage you to say to yourself when you're struggling with those type of things. What would you say to a close friend who was telling you that story? Would you say, well, yeah, you should have done a great job. You had an extra hour and 45 minutes, or well, you know, you shouldn't have procrastinated. Those things may be true, but are they really helpful? Are they helpful now? Are they helpful in the long run? And the answer is no.

Speaker 1: 7:55

So this week, I just encourage you to really think about the things that you're not giving yourself credit for, or the things that you're brushing off or you feel like don't matter, because maybe other people aren't seeing them. Now, I know this might seem a little counterintuitive based on what I'm saying, but maybe reach out to me, let me know what one of those things is. If this is something that, have you dealt with? This too? Is this something that's helped to maybe shift or reshape those thoughts a little bit? I would just love to know. Am I the only one who does things like this and spoiler? I've talked to enough people. I know I'm not the only one, but I really think it probably is a lot of us. But I'd love to hear from you. And, of course, until next time. Remember self-care isn't selfish. It's essential if we wanna continue to care for others and live our best lives. Have a great week.