The Quiet Power of Recognition
Why acknowledging yourself rewires the brain.
“The work you put in now makes your future brighter and smoother.”
🫂A Note from Me
Hi, I’m Jessica.
I write NP Fellow, a weekly mental health and functional medicine newsletter, to help readers gain emotional steadiness, achieve optimal health and emotional freedom, and become the C.E.O. of their own health.
I’m a nurse who loves health and wellness, a self-taught stock trader of the last five years, and someone who grew up playing competitive travel ice hockey.
What those worlds taught me is this: growth only feels sustainable when the nervous system can hold it.
This piece is about something simple, but powerful.
It’s about learning to recognize who you’ve already become because sometimes the most important shift isn’t pushing forward.
It’s pausing long enough to let your growth land.
🚨My new NP Fellow paid series called the Weekly Skill is now live and will be posted every Wednesday!
For readers who want practical tools to build emotional regulation skills week by week, I’ve created The Weekly Skill—a structured training system for developing self-trust, nervous system stability, emotional steadiness, internal validation, and psychological flexibility.
🌀 NP Fellow Sunday articles and deep dives will always be free. If you’d like to support this work and access The Weekly Skills, upgrade here.
The Quiet Power of Recognition
There are seasons of your life when you’re changing quietly.
You’re handling things differently.
You’re responding with more steadiness.
You’re surviving what once overwhelmed you.
However, because no one applauds integration, you barely register it.
And when growth goes unrecognized, the nervous system never receives the signal that it is safe.
What Recognition Actually Is
Recognition isn’t ego.
It’s not self-congratulation and it’s not pretending everything is perfect.
Recognition is simply this: Seeing what is true.
It is the ability to pause and say:
That was hard.
I handled that better than I used to.
I am not who I once was.
Without recognition, growth feels unstable.
With recognition, growth integrates.
And integration is what creates the feeling of “I am enough.”
Why Recognition Matters More Than We Realize
Most people are chasing the next level.
More productivity.
More visibility.
More relevancy.
More achievement.
More healing.
However, the nervous system doesn’t stabilize from doing more. It stabilizes from safety and safety comes from acknowledgment.
When you move through something difficult and never consciously register it, the body doesn’t update. Your body continues operating as if you’re still fragile, still behind, and still proving.
Recognition is the moment the system says:
We survived that.
We learned something.
We are capable.
We did do that.
That moment matters neurologically.
The Neuroscience of Recognition
The brain is constantly gathering evidence about who you are, biologically.
When you repeatedly overlook your own progress:
Neural pathways associated with inadequacy and threat detection strengthen.
The amygdala stays alert.
Cortisol remains slightly elevated.
The nervous system holds subtle vigilance.
But when you consciously acknowledge growth, something shifts.
Prefrontal circuits involved in reflection and regulation activate.
Dopamine reinforces competence.
The nervous system encodes safety instead of deficiency.
Recognition updates identity at the neural level.
The brain learns through repetition.
If you repeatedly recognize progress, you wire stability.
If you repeatedly dismiss it, you wire doubt.
This isn’t motivational language. It’s simple nervous system science.
Why “I Am Enough” Feels So Hard
Most people think “I am enough” is a belief you must force.
It’s not. It’s a state that emerges when the nervous system feels integrated.
If your body still feels like it must prove itself, the phrase will feel hollow.
Recognition closes that gap.
When you see yourself clearly, not perfectly, but accurately, the nervous system softens.
You’re no longer chasing proof.
You’re registering truth and truth stabilizes.
The Cost of Skipping Recognition
When recognition is absent:
You minimize your growth.
You move the goalpost.
You deflect compliments.
You feel chronically behind.
Externally, you may be succeeding.
Internally, you remain unsettled because without acknowledgment, progress never becomes embodied.
You’re always becoming; never landing and that’s exhausting.
A Different Practice
Recognition doesn’t require a ritual.
It requires a pause.
After a hard conversation, ask:
“How did I show up differently this time?”
After completing something meaningful, ask:
“What strength did that require?”
After surviving something painful, ask:
“What part of me grew here?”
Don’t exaggerate or don’t inflate. Just observe.
Recognition isn’t performance. It’s orientation.
What “Enough” Actually Means
“I am enough” doesn’t mean:
I have no more work to do.
I am perfect.
I have arrived.
It means:
I can grow without erasing myself.
I can improve without despising who I am today.
I can expand without abandoning the version of me that got here.
Enoughness isn’t stagnation. It’s secure expansion.
Final Thoughts
There are parts of you that have changed quietly.
There are strengths you now carry that once felt impossible.
There are ways you show up today that your past self would be proud of.
Recognition is how growth lands.
Recognition is how identity stabilizes.
Recognition is how the nervous system learns:
You are safe here.
And sometimes, that quiet acknowledgment is what allows the words to feel true:
I am enough.
Thank you for reading this article.
Until next Sunday,
—Jessica
Your 2am friend who actually gets it
“Periodically, you will need to heal your motivations. It takes a significant amount of honesty with yourself to realize that greed and fear have crept too far into the center of your mind. Needing to reconnect yourself with your best intentions does not mean you are moving backward; it just means you are human.” —Yung Pueblo
🪩 A Gentle Invitation
If this article resonated with you, you may appreciate my new product called Weekly Skill, a paid NP Fellow series focused on one real, grounded internal skill each week regarding attention, impulse control, emotional regulation, presence, and learning how to work with your nervous system instead of against it.
No pressure. Just an invitation.🤝
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MEDICAL DISCLAIMER
This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal physician. All readers/viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program.
I think the reminder to pause and recognize growth is something many of us need!
Great piece, Jessica. Recognizing your wins rewires the brain for real, builds that quiet confidence without the endless chase. Spot on. Wildfire 🔥