Achievements and Accomplishments

I have kept an Accomplishment Journal for close to thirty years. This is a small notebook that contains a running list of my life’s accomplishments and achievements. This is a very personal but powerful tool.  Think of it like a running “to do list” but one that has been done.

Accomplishments are personal goals I have achieved (Distinguished Toastmaster Award), business developments (designed initial NSGCD/ICD Certificate and Certification program), new skills I have learned (begin blog – Transition Your Life) , developing my website www.terryprince.com, books I have read and finally finished (Bleak House), big or special trips I have made (Sweden/Italy).

Sometimes the accomplishments I list and record are private acknowledgments I have received (emails, letters, small tokens).   These accomplishments however, are not all tangible awards, promotions or credentials. Instead the accomplishments I list are often conversations I have had, times when I have been fully present or times when I supported my family members, business partners or friends with certain activities, ideas, actions or inaction’s.

The accomplishment journal provides me a sense of my life’s history, patterns and of stretch. When I want to venture into something new, I often spend a short period of time reflecting on my achievements and accomplishments. This gives me the strength and courage to proceed and go forward toward new projects or goals.

Consider taking the time to locate a small attractive book to become your accomplishment journal. Make your first entry –

• 12-17 Purchased an Accomplishment Journal

Time to Listen More

Now is a good time for us to listen. The holiday season brings many social gatherings and events. Listen more and learn. Instead of delving right into a conversation, spend more time in listening mode. This may give you an opportunity for deeper communications in the long run.

Let's say you are attending a neighbor's party. When you choose to listen instead of providing small talk, you can find out all types of information. This event could provide you with the knowledge that:  your friend Sally has just purchased a new car, Jody was laid off and is in need of a new job,Margie is worried about her aging parents, Martha is looking for help with social media for her new business.

All this information gleaned at the neighborhood party can then translate to Sally has an old car to sell.  Jody, who needs a job, can be referred to Martha who needs some help with social media. Margie, with the aging parents, might just need an ear to vent, or she may need some local resources you have to share.

When you listen deeply, you can potentially give the gift of helping move things along, make a job connection or give much needed comfort and assistance. Being a good listener takes extra work and effort, but it really can pay out healthy dividends for yourself, your friends and your community.

Time for a Calendar Review!

Have you reviewed your calendar lately? A calendar review is a great way to get insight into your productivity. To do this helpful exercise, open up your online or paper calendar and review your past 12 months of listed activities.

• Do you have significant and functional social time with friends, family and loved ones?
• Have you included physical exercise and healthy activities to reach your health and fitness goals?
• Are you including enrichment and life long learning activities into your schedule?
• Are the associations and organizations that you belong to and attending fulfilling your needs?

Your calendar can give you valuable data into how you are spending your time. It can also flag activities that you list but do not attend. Take some time to review your calendar, it will be time well spent.

This is an earlier 2012 post from my Terry's Thinking Blog, well worth revisiting this time of year.  

Make Time For Fun

Let's talk about having fun. Fun is something we all need to take seriously. After all, all work and no play is what makes a day dull and us boring.

How can you have fun Today? How can you make fun everyday a priority? Having fun is different for each of us. For some it may be reading a book, watching a favorite TV show or movie, using Pinterest or Facebook, playing solitaire, going for a walk or spending time talking on the phone to a friend or family member. 

It is especially important to set some time for fun when we are overloaded with a long "to do list" or complex project. Fun needs to be incorporated into our day when we are in the middle of a life transition or living through a stress filled period in our life such as when serving as a primary caregiver for an acutely ill person or child.  It may seem like a misuse of our time but the "fun break" or "Fun out" will make us more productive and effective in the long run.

When we schedule in fun, we maintain a good balance in our life. 

So what fun are you planning today?

This is a revised post from 2009

Brevity

Brevity is defined by Merriam-Webster's online dictionary as shortness of duration, shortness or conciseness of expression.

Keeping things short is the way of the future. No longer are we seeking Dickens, three comma sentences. Think or read Bleak House for a real understanding. We have too much to read, or visually stimulate us each day at least during the working hours.

Whether it be written or verbal communications, keeping things short, is the way to go for the business world.

However, at my leisure I truly enjoy a long and lengthy book. I just reread Edward Rutherford's epic novel "London". If you haven't yet read it and have room to read, I highly recommend all 800 pages of it.

This is a revised post from 2007

Look to Learn

What does looking elsewhere have to do with transition? Sometimes we focus too much on inner selves that we neglect to take a good look at the environment and people around us.

Here is a reminder: 

Look at People

Who are the people who make your day special? They can be your family members, friends, neighbors and of course your pets. People can also be the providers of service we routinely count on. By focusing on them instead of our "self" we can change our attitude, learn new things and move forward.   


Look at Places

Take some time to observe where you are. Look at the buildings, trees and sky. Our visual senses can bring us great relief from every day sameness. Look with new "eyes" and really see where you are.

Look at Things

Spend some time looking at your surroundings with deeper vision. Really look at the mug on your desk. Observe the stapler. Contemplate your phone. When we look with intent we often see things in a brand new light.

Looking elsewhere is one of the ways to make a transition in your thoughts, attitude and  mindset. Another method is by listening. You may find this previous post about sound helpful. Stillness and Silence.


Let me know how some of these exercises go in transitioning your mind.

This is a best of post.

Ask Good Questions

Do you ask questions? The questions we need or want to ask are often the ones that help us find the answers.

Questions work best if they are relatively short and direct. Complex questions can get us bogged down in terms of perspective and framework as well as intention. Extremely complex questions can also confuse the person who is suppose to be answering them.  A complex question may not get answered because the "answerer" may loose his or her sense of place. 

Gary Lockwood, a business coach said "a significant reason to ask good questions is to help the person you are asking. Asking well-crafted, intelligent questions causes people to think profoundly. When someone thinks more deeply than before, new ideas, new answers and new possibilities emerge".

Everyone asks questions throughout their day and life. They can be internal questions or external ones. Take for example the internal question Shall I work on this task or another? This small question will drive our actions. By making sure your internal questions are positive, you can have more impetus to move forward. A negative internal question creates a bad starting attitude and may delay your progress. Shall I work on this mind numbing task or quit for the day? Work to compose your internal questions to get the best results.

External questions such as Do you (my boss) want me to work on this assignment now?, can be altered by inflection of the voice or a significant pause. Do you want me to work on this assignment NOW? can be taken as a passive aggressive statement. So be mindful of how you present your questions as much as choosing what to ask.  

When you ask questions is also an important factor. A question answered by a tired individual or someone who wants to leave the room is likely not to be as good as from someone who is refreshed and energized. Make your questions count, choose to ask them in the best possible time. When the timing is bad try to communicate at a later time. Delayed questions may still be answered, and in fact getting better results. 

Spend some time over the next few weeks observing how you ask questions. Review if your questions are getting answered. See if your questions get thoughtful answer. If your answers are not clear start working on your questioning skills. 

Working on our questions is a lifelong journey. In the words of Francis Bacon - "Who questions much, shall learn much, and retain much". Improve your questioning skills and improve your life.

The Two Sides of Tears - Loss and Achievement

Have you ever stopped to wonder about tears? We can have tears of sorrow and tears of joy. When you experience someone’s tears did you ever stop to think you could be the cause of them in a positive or negative sense?

This quote by Suresh Advaithas expresses it very well.

The biggest loss in life  -  Tears in someone’s eyes because of you.
Biggest achievement in life  - Tears in someone’s eyes for you.

May you bring happy tears to those you know.

This is a best of post from Terry's Thinking, Terry Prince's other blog.  

Reflecting on a Year Passing

If you had to create an annual report for your past year, what would you include as completions or progress on projects?

For the past 5 years, graphic designer Nicholas Felton  has been creating an annual report listing his accomplishments and statistics.

What would you like to track in your life in 2011? Here are some statistics from my current year.

Travel
States visited other than state of residence - 6
Nights spent in other than home residence - 29


Books Read
At least 90. 15 of which were reread books.

Movies Attended in Movie Theater
5

Donation Trips to Goodwill Express  (personal)
7

Listen More

Now is a good time for us to listen. Listen more and learn. Instead of delving right in to a conversation, spend more time in listen mode. This may give you an opportunity for deeper communications in the long run.

Being a good listener takes extra work and effort but it can pay out healthy dividends.

For some other "mores" check out my more or less post from last year.

Making Today Fun

Let's talk about having fun. Fun is something we all need to take seriously. After all, all work and no play is what makes a day dull and us boring.

How can you have fun Today? How can you make fun everyday a priority? Having fun is different for each of us. For some it may be reading a book, watching a favorite TV show, going for a walk or spending time talking on the phone to a friend or family member.

It is important to set some time for fun when we are overloaded with a long "to do list" or complex project. It may seem like a misuse of our time but the "fun break" or "Fun out" will make us more productive in the long run.

When we schedule in fun, we maintain a good balance in our life.


So what fun are you planning today?

This is a best of post from 2009 because Terry is currently out having fun.

Beneath the Surface - Growing Ideas

There are times when we may think nothing is happening. We are living a fallow life - in our rut, a big one. Yet, beneath the surface, we are germinating new thoughts, coming up with ideas, learning helpful skills and processes that will soon raise up and come forth in a new concept.

Here are some visual concepts to get you thinking:

• A coffee maker percolating, after a short while it will be ready.
• A bud unfurling on a tree in springtime.
• Underneath the ground a seed is breaking out of it's coat ready to grow.
• The dying embers of something else that will soon become a new steady flame.

What's happening beneath your surface?

Routine Reflections

Do you take time to reflect on your past activities, actions or inaction's?

Many individuals have routine times that help encourage reflection. For some it might be the stillness of being in church or temple. For others, it is when they attend a weekly meeting of a group or association. It can also be during an exercise or fitness class.

During this period of specific reflection, one can gauge progress or lack of progress on certain life goal activities with ourselves as well as reflect on our actions or inaction towards these goals.

Let me point out, that this is very different from a calendar review which many do on Friday's, Sunday's or Monday's. Routine reflection is instead a bigger picture process that reflects on major goals.    

If you haven't tried this concept of routine reflection, this might be a good  practice to start. Pick a time, that is a fairly standard constant in your life, and take a few moments out each time to reflect. You may not do it perfectly at first, but beginning is the first step. Once you have done it a few times it is likely to prove it's value to your life.

Personally, for many years I arrived early to my Toastmaster's meeting. I did this so I could spend some time in reflection. I believe it was a key component to my ability to succeed.

When do you do your Routine Reflection?

Transforming Shoulds and Coulds

Are you failing to listen to the should and the could's in your life? By transforming our shoulds into "do's" and "will"s we may accomplish many things.  However, sometimes our should and coulds are things we might want to avoid doing entirely.

1. Take a look at your shoulds and coulds

Spend some time over the next few days listening to your inner talk and your external communications. Take note of the number of times you express or think the word "Should" or "Could". If you have a high frequency of shoulds or coulds, (Perhaps 5+ a day) you may want to spend some "thinking, development and planning" time around them.


2. Delve into the shoulds and coulds

After you have listened to yourself over the last few days, you may find some frequent shoulds and coulds. Take time to jot them down in sentence form.

I should get more sleep at night
I wish I could keep my desk clear
We could buy a new car



3. Analyze your should and could's for future work and change.

Let's say you want to get more sleep. How can you go about making it come to fruition? By brainstorming you may come to some possilble solutions.

For example:  

I should get more sleep -  To get more sleep, go to bed earlier or stay in bed longer. The should becomes a will when you decide to go to sleep earlier or set your alarm for a later morning wake up.

We could buy a new car - Deciding to buy a new or different car, is a process and project. You may choose to get a new car when your current car reaches a certain mileage, or if maintenance fees exceed the cost of a monthly payment. Your new car might be more advantageous when you have to start driving to your new company's office (which is further away) to keep fuel costs down. A new car might make more sense after you have paid off other debts or saved a certain dollar amount. The could becomes more of a strategy and plan development when you look at the when and why components.


4. Transform your should and could's to wills, when's, why's or later decisions. If you formalize and bring these shoulds and coulds  to the next phase you will allow more space for things to happen.

5. Erase your negative should and could's from your mental and verbal vocabulary.  Sometimes we have stuck should and could's which can not be easily transformed into action or do not warrant further thought about.

For Example:

I should have said  ..... instead of ......
I could have read the directions three times and caught my mistake (after improperly assembling a complex piece of furniture)


Spend some time working on your should and could's and you will likely transform your life.

Indexed

Are you looking for new perspectives or perhaps a laugh? The blog Indexed by Jessica Hagy is a great one for taking concepts, thoughts and ideas to a simple visual message on her 3 x 5 or 5x 7 index cards.

Jessica's book "Indexed" is scheduled for release any day now.

Being your own best friend

You can be your own best friend by:


Taking care of your mental, emotional and basic physical needs

Taking time out for yourself when you need it

Removing and extracting yourself from stress and overload

Being able to say no when you have had enough

Treating yourself as well as you treat others

Work on improving who you are on a daily basis

Asking for help and support from other friends when you need it

Being patience with yourself

Transition Your Life

This Site is for testing ideas and thoughts before setting out on your next journey, whether it be a career change, new family, or even post retirement.

The goal of my site is to keep it simple, keep it short -- occasional postings under 300 words.