So here’s the big question:

Over the last few months, have you achieved what you hoped for professionally, personally, with family, and health-wise?

Maybe, you completed some goals and hardly made any progress on others. Maybe, it’s hard to even think of exactly what you’ve done.

If you are like me, time starts to blur together. It’s hard to remember day by day, week by week everything that you have done. As a result, it may feel like you haven’t done all that much.

So let’s take a step back. Look back at your calendar and your emails. What have you been able to do?

What you have accomplished

Go ahead and make a list of your accomplishments. Dig in there, and get specific.

At first, it might be hard to think of everything. Yet this list is super valuable. In fact, I recommend doing this exercise regularly. Once per month would be great.

On the job, this list of accomplishments will help you with your annual review and remind your co-workers of the positive experiences you’ve had together.

In your life, this list will help you experience the powerful positive emotions of gratitude and appreciation.

If what pops into your mind is what you haven’t completed, go write those down on a separate page. Then come back to creating your list of big and small achievements.

Once you’ve made a list, keep it as a future reminder of what you have done.

Now looking at what you have already accomplished, what are your next steps?

How can you build from these successes?

What is still to come…

Now let’s reflect on what you haven’t yet accomplished. Are you stuck, anywhere? Or, are you making progress?

For those, places where you are making progress, celebrate what you have done. And just keep going.

When you are working hard, but aren’t making much progress, it’s time to change your approach. How can you solve this problem from a different direction? Who can you speak with to get ideas?

When you feel stuck, the hardest step is the next one.

It’s not clear how to get where you want. So shrink the size of the next step. Make it very small. What is one incredibly small action you can take that can start you moving forward?

In the short-term, you may not have accomplished every goal.

Though you likely have done more than at first glance. It might all blur together a bit. It’s just hard to remember everything. But if you pull out your calendar and
look through your email, take a look. And what you have accomplished may blur together— so it’s hard to remember everything that you have accomplished.

If you have been successful…

If you haven’t been successful…

But the truth is, you have probably done more than you thought.

And if you are like me, so much of what you have done has blurred together. It’s hard to remember everything that you’ve done. So it can feel like you haven’t done all that much.

Write it down. Express gratitude.

If you are like me, you’ve done a lot.