Our lives move really bloody quickly. We’re constantly on the go and any time we do get to ourselves we spend scrolling through our phones comparing our lives to other people’s.
OK, I’ve made a few sweeping generalisations there, but you know what I mean. We so rarely stop and take a moment to look back, and I think this is something we should be doing more. I’m not suggesting we ruminate about the past, but we should take the time to look back and see how far we’ve come.
Without stopping, pausing and considering our achievements from time to time we move forward in a blur of self-doubt, believing we’re no good at X or ‘just OK’ at Y.
When we look back at where we started and where we are now we see… we’re actually pretty damn amazing at X and Y. It’s just a case of taking the time to reflect and finding that evidence.
Let’s take this blog as an example. If I was to just look day-to-day, I could get pretty disheartened with the number of visitors I get and how slowly my social media platforms are growing. But, actually, when I look back to where I started I can see a huge improvement.
I went from a handful of views a month at the start of the year (because it was a brand new blog) to over 1,000 views a month. My Instagram has grown from 140 followers to around 600 (hovering around the 600 mark thanks to the pesky follow/unfollow game). My Twitter has grown from around 600 followers to over 1000.
These number are tiny in comparison to a lot of bloggers, but there’s an upward trend - and that’s down to me and the work I put into it. Aside from blog related things, looking back at your achievements in general serves as a great reminder that you are capable and kick-ass.
Here are some achievements I’m particularly proud of:
Getting a degree in writing.
Travelling around Thailand.
Finding a job that utilised my writing skills.
Developing expertise, passion and skill in my career.
Travelling to Costa Rica to study yoga and photography (even though it scared the shit out of me).
Scrapping my old blog and starting from scratch here.
Going to the Blogtacular conference (even though it scared the shit out of me).
Improving my Instagram feed and pursuing creativity.
The idea of writing or saying our achievements out loud can be cringe-inducing, I know. We don’t like to shout about them. But why don’t we shout about it? Because we don’t want to ‘show-off’ or come across as big-headed? Screw that. I think it’s time we all shouted a little louder. If we don’t, we can so easily forget the times we pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone, the times we were scared but did it anyway. Write them down, talk about them - be proud of them.
Growth Spurt: budding & vegetative ebook
You’re ready to get off the sidelines and start showing up in your life. You want to feel the quiet knowing that comes when you’re not only confident, but also sure of your purpose. In this book I’ve collated my learnings on confidence and finding your purpose so you can do exactly this.
Part e-book and part workbook, in each chapter you’ll learn and then have space in ‘the work’ section to put that learning into action.
This time of year is a great time to do this exercise. Giving yourself a reminder of how bad-ass you are before the new year can do wonders for your confidence.
So if you’re feeling like you’re not that great at anything or that you’ll never be good enough - do me a favour and answer these questions:
- What are your biggest achievements?
- Where were you at the start of the year and where are you now?
- What have you learned along the way?
- How can you use these lessons moving forward?
No matter how big or small you may perceive your achievements to be, they’re yours. You did them and no one can take that away from you.
How often do you stop and look back at what you’ve achieved? What stops you shouting about your achievements?
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