Do you ever feel like you aren’t accomplishing anything? Or that you aren’t making strides fast enough? Or maybe that what you have accomplished doesn’t matter? I hear ya. There are days I feel like I haven’t done much of anything for years—since I put my photography business on hold to travel, in fact.
But here’s the real question: Does thinking any of these things serve me? And, if not, what can I do about it?
It’s so easy to downplay our accomplishments. Whether we’re in a bad mood or our accomplishments haven’t exactly met the mark we’re striving for or even if we don’t know exactly what we’re striving for, it can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day stresses of our lives and forget what we have accomplished.
Next time you’re riding that train, try this instead: Make a list.
Yep, grab your journal and pen or open up your word processing software and make a list of everything you’ve accomplished over the last month, year, or several years.
Your list could be personal: Maybe you planned a family vacation or took on a new volunteer responsibility.
It could be professional: Perhaps you maintained a weekly blog schedule for a certain amount of time or got rave reviews from a recent client engagement, or even took a course that will help you achieve big things.
Your list could be small: Losing two pounds.
Or big: Training for and completing a 10k, or riding a bike across Kansas.
It doesn’t matter what’s on the list so much as that you’re acknowledging what you’ve done. If it gives you a sense of pride, even for a moment, it’s worth including.
Once you’ve gotten your list written down, store it somewhere you can refer back to whenever feelings of doubt creep in. When I Grow Up Coach Michelle Ward calls hers a “Win Book.” Follow the link for the whys and hows to create your own.
So, how are you honoring accomplishments? What’s going into your Win Book?
Cheers,
