Do you keep a “done-list”?

I do!

I’ve made it a habit to make a note of all the good things I created (or you might say “that happened to me”) every day. I collect them all in a recurring reminder in my calendar, every Sunday.

I’ve noticed how fast we forget. I’ve noticed that we remember bad stuff longer than good stuff. And sometimes we get frustrated because things don’t seem to move forward as fast as we would like them to.

But then Sunday comes around and I look at my “Done-List” for the week and go, wow, I totally forgot about this great meeting I had, which could create so many opportunities. I forgot that I finally made that phone call that I had kept postponing for ages. I forgot about that wonderful testimonial I received from a client.

Most of us have to-do list, which keep us focused on the future and keep us rushing on and on. A done-list is an opportunity to stop and reflect. To remember. To realize that things aren’t moving that slow; that we’ve actually been busy “creating” on a daily basis. It’s a chance to give ourselves a moment to be proud of what we have achieved and be grateful for the opportunities that have arisen.

As employees, we notice when we’ve achieved something. We get a bonus, we get a pad on the back, we hear about it in our annual reviews; our manager gives us recognition for it (some managers really do ). But we don’t have managers in our private lives or in our small businesses. We report only to ourselves. That’s what a done-list helps you do: to report good news back to yourself.

Life’s moving too fast these days and happy moments tend to fly by so quickly we hardly notice them anymore. Unless we take the time; a moment to reflect and allow ourselves to feel successful.

What was your happiest moment last week?
What was a moment in which you felt really successful last week?

If you can’t answer these two questions, or if it takes you a long time to come up with something – I invite you to try out a Done-List for the next 7 days!