“I have not accomplished enough in life!”
Do you get this thought often? Does this bother you and affects your well being?
Most people have stated or unstated goals. Usually, these are around career, financial and materialistic possessions.
Let’s say if the financial goal is to build a liquid cash savings of 1 Crore (~ USD 140K) could take several years! In most cases we realize not getting closer to achieving this goal after several years!
Many of materialistic possessions such as clothes, TV, mobile etc. could be accomplished in relatively shorter duration. These are lifestyle stuff and changes with the trend. So, the sense accomplishments is short lived! However, materialistic possessions such as a house or an expensive car may take considerable time, perhaps several years!
Even career for that matter could take at least a year (assuming one year of appraisal cycle). If we achieve a goal of a promotion, could we write “I was promoted as a Project Manager” as accomplishments in our resume? I have screened several resumes and find it rare someone articulating their accomplishment really well. In most cases, they struggle and seek help from others!
A closer look at these goals would reveal that they are achievable over a period! And, the period could sometimes be unexpectedly long.
What’s my point?
Let’s first understand the literal meaning of the word “accomplishment“.
The word accomplishment is derived from an old French word acomplir, meaning “to fulfill, fill up, complete.“ An accomplishment is something you’ve completed successfully.
An incomplete or unfinished task perhaps leads to the thoughts of not accomplished enough in life!
Break down your goal(s) to smaller and easier tasks leading to your goal(s). Typically, the task duration could be between the range of 1 day to 90 days.
As you complete these tasks, you would feel a sense of accomplishment. Don’t forget to reflect on the completed tasks and make your course corrections. The success in these could pave the way to subsequent tasks and help you reach your goal(s).
I have found personal tasks pertaining to our family could play a significant role in accomplishment. Success in these tasks could serve as source of energy to achieve our goal(s).
Add some of these to your list of goals and you would see the benefits in short and long term.
I felt a sense of accomplishment in completing few of my personal tasks listed below as examples, While the feeling of accomplishment are short lived, these give tremendous confidence in self!
- A month ago, I decided to help my daughter in her Math revision. This task was completed this week.
- A month ago, I thought of developing a website for a friend who is working for a noble cause. Yesterday, I completed it.
- A month ago, I decided to learn something new. Last week I completed learning basics of Python and SCRUM project management framework. And, I feel like learning more!
- While travelling back to home yesterday i thought of writing this article and completed it.
Sense of accomplishment is an outcome of our efforts towards completing a task!
I wish you success in all your endeavors!
Author: Raghuraman Kadambi
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-you-feel-accomplished-raghuraman-kadambi/
Definition of accomplishment – https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/accomplishment
Image Credits: CC0 License