Exercise: your life accomplishments

What even is life?

So you are about to hit a milestone age and this has you questioning everything: What have I done in my life? Why haven’t I made it? What will be my legacy? Will my life mean anything?

These are normal feelings and questions as you transition from one point in life to the next. They can hit you at any stage, not just at the big 30, 40, or 50.

If you let yourself wallow too long, you can begin to feel like there is nowhere to turn. But that’s just your mind playing tricks on you. You’ve lived probably a few decades by now. That’s a lot of time. You’ve done amazing things.

If you are feeling like life is speeding by and you haven’t done anything yet, and you are running out of time – take five minutes from your panic, and do this exercise. Do it right now.

You will need:

• Pen and paper or a blank document and keyboard (or use my template [Word 22Kb])
• Your brain, for a nostalgic trip down memory lane
• Possibly a box of tissues, you never know

Exercise: recording your accomplishments

Think back to your life up to this point. What are some things you’ve done that you look back on fondly? What are your proud of? What happened to make you the person you are today? Let’s write them down.

There’s no set criteria here – it should be personal and meaningful to you. What might be important and life-changing to one person, might be ordinary to someone else. That’s okay. This is for you, not anyone else.

At the end of five minutes – or longer if you are on a roll – look back over your list and you’ll see just how awesome your life is already!

If you are struggling to think of things you’ve achieved, instead think of things you are glad have happened to you – and maybe that will help you shift your thinking.

Print out your list and put it somewhere safe. When you are feeling stuck, take it out and have a read through. Maybe you have some new accomplishments to add to it!

My list

Here are a few of mine (in no particular order):

• Performed music live, on the radio, online, and on TV as both a soloist or in a band – and won a few karaoke competitions too!
• Travelled to a few different countries, including at least one non-English speaking one – which broadened my horizons and my mind
• Taught myself HTML from scratch in the late 90s, and taught others online – I became an internet pioneer!
• Learned a few phrases of different languages – enough to get by at least!
• Graduated university as a mature-age student – I have a Bachelor of Arts in Internet Communications
• Married my amazing husband – and picked up some awesome extra family as well (I love you guys!)
• Survived the death of my brother when I was in my early 20s – grief can teach you many things about life
• Adopted and loved many wonderful catties – enriching my life every day!
• Bought my perfect house – but always working on improvements!
• Discovered my green thumb – and have enjoyed the fruits (and vegetables) of my labour!
• Been consistently employed since leaving college – in a range of roles that have given me a wide amount of experience, and the chance to make lasting friendships
• Made friends with people the world over – many of which have left an indelible mark on my soul (my Faery!)
• Started writing a book – and now I’m writing about writing the book too!

Thanks for reading, and I hope this helped you shift your perspective a little. Feel free to share some of your life highlights in the comments if you are brave. Life is wonderful!

See you next time!