Before you pat Yourself on the Back...

 Before you pat yourself on the back, don’t forget this simple, but critical step.

You know those times in your career when things just seem to be going right? Maybe the project you worked so hard on is finally wrapped up, the presentation you spent weeks preparing for goes off without a hitch, the client you were wooing finally signs the contract, and the goals you set for your department are all achieved on the same day. You feel pride, you feel power, you feel like dancing on the ceiling, and in honor of your efforts everyone you know is going to give you a high-five and buy you a drink. Congratulations! But, before you go shooting off the top of a bottle of Cristal, do this one thing…

Write it down!

Before you eye roll and move onto the next article, just hear me out. Many people who are in the habit of setting and achieving goals are also in the habit of writing the goals down. Why? Because they understand that when you write something down, a lot of great things happen:

·         You acknowledge your desires,

·         You can break down large goals into achievable steps,

·         You motivate yourself to take action,

·         You generate ideas for other goals, and

·         You feel successful.

The list can go on and on, but the point is that there are a million reasons why you would want to write your goals down. Fewer people write about the aftermath, however, because once the goal has been achieved, then game over, right? Mission accomplished… sort of.

Following are a few (potentially) compelling reasons for why you will want to write down your goals after they are completed:

1.       It will remind you of your process.

 

Many times as we are going through the process of achieving goals we forget the challenges that have come along the way. For example, when a woman has a baby, the labor is difficult and painful, but as soon as they see their baby, they are overcome with so much joy that when they introduce their child to the world, they are beaming with pride, not complaining about all the sweating and pushing and screaming.

 

Or, think about a time when you lost weight and were finally able to zip up those pants that had been tucked away in the back of the closet. There were a lot of days that you said “no” to treats you wanted to eat because what you really wanted was the satisfaction of losing weight instead. When everyone compliments you on how fantastic you look, you don’t complain, “I gave up so many desserts… every day I skipped the whipped cream on my Pumpkin Spice latte...” No, people say “thank you” and move along.

But, you are probably wondering what giving birth and losing weight have to do with writing down your accomplishments? Well, sometimes when we make decisions, we neglect to write things down and forget some of the steps we took along the way. Sometimes it’s only after making the same mistake again that we are reminded of the error that could have been avoided had we documented the process.

This works for positive things as well. When looking at taking on a new task, if you look at the elements that contributed to your success, then you can also add those elements into the equation in the future.

2.       It will help to keep your accomplishments fresh in your mind.

 

While many people may think they can easily recall their accomplishments, consider for a moment if you have ever been in the following scenario. You get the notification that it is annual review time, and despite the fact that you’ve worked your tail off all year long, you sit at your desk, drumming your fingers, making a desperate attempt to recall what awesome projects you’ve worked on over the course of the year that would warrant recognition. Surely you’ve been busy. You work late all the time, you missed your kid’s soccer game (on more than one occasion), but for some reason you sit blankly, staring at the screen as if someone just asked you to write a dissertation on thermodynamics.

Or

You’re in an interview and the interviewer inquires, “Tell me about your major career accomplishments.” I have asked similar questions to interviewees and had candidates tell me they can’t think of any. I am typically looking at their resume, and can conceive a couple areas they could have achieved success, but the voice on the phone (or the face in person) is blank and offers nothing.

 

Being able to go back and review your accomplishments will also serve to provide you a bit of a boost in self esteem. Have you ever heard the phrase, “Success breeds success?” Its absolutely true, and when you take time to recall things that you’ve done well, then look over the list of things you have on your list of goals, the brain can actually use those positive recollections to fuel your desire for attacking the next task.

 

3.       It will set you apart from the competition.

 

If you think it’s hard for you to remember all of your projects, just think about your boss, who may have to sit down and do the exact same thing, only for every other person in your department as well. If you are able to articulate the specifics around each project your worked on, each success you achieve, each milestone accomplished, you will not only make your boss’s job easier, but you will be doing a lot more than your colleagues.  When it comes to annual review time, and you have a list of ways you’ve demonstrated you contribute, then you have taken another step in demonstrating that you are capable of high performance in other areas as well.

 

You don’t have to write a novel around each instance, but do something simple like write a page in your journal, write a blog about your experience, or even just forward yourself emails that you place in a recognition file. In my work email folders, I have one I call Success, and every time someone emails me a message related to my own exceptional performance, I file it in my Success folder. If I’m in a hurry, I will sometimes email it to myself with notes and then slide it into the folder. The point is that it doesn’t matter what format you use to keep track of your successes, just do it! You may be surprised how this small action can put your career into high gear.