Monday through Friday, my calendar is full of appointments and meetings, and my work notebook is an overflowing ocean of to-do lists. I find myself so focused on keeping track of my tasks that by the time I complete a major goal, I have no energy to celebrate, let alone document my accomplishment (mostly because by then I’ve forgotten the details).

A few months ago, I found myself feeling anxious and a little nervous about my upcoming annual performance review. I couldn’t pinpoint the reason at first. I had consistently been working hard to go above and beyond on my projects. When I tried to list all of my achievements in my head, however, I could barely remember what I had completed the week before! Then the panic creeped in. I stayed up late that night going through my calendar and my notebooks, trying to put together the pieces of a hectic year.

It was then that I decided I wouldn’t let this happen again and that next time I’d be prepared. I needed to put a system in place. This is where the idea to create a simple way to track and list achievements was born.

THE TEMPLATE

The Achievement Tracker template is meant to help you document your goals. From properly formulating a SMART goal, to documenting the lessons learned through the process, it prompts you to consider the possible obstacles and challenges that you may encounter and to come up with a plan to overcome them. Importantly, it also has a section to document the end result where you can reflect on the lessons learned. Because having an accountability partner is proven to help you achieve your goals, there is also a place to write down their name. This should be someone that you can reach out to when you need a push or guidance, and who will celebrate with you when you accomplish what you set out to do. 😊

For more free templates, tips and products, check out our instagram account @thedaringlotus

I love lists, and the beautiful feeling of checking/ crossing items off of it. It’s priceless!

No matter what you used them for:

• Keeping track of your resources
• Setting up your goals
• Daily To-do’s
• Shopping
• Workout jams, etc.

Lists give you that feeling of achievement and being in control, feelings that we all crave for. But lists can also be a double-edged sword…

Back in January, when setting my yearly goals, I determined that my tagline/theme for the year was going to be “Growth with Confidence and Success.” So more than any other year in my life, I’ve applied my list-making skills to effectively manage my resources, especially my time.

Since then I’ve made lists for everything and anything: To-do lists at work and for my personal projects, lists of our assets and liabilities at home, list of my achievements for my performance review and, of a course, our family goals, which are listed on piece of paper hanging from our regrigerator’s door. However, no matter how many lists I made, instead of getting that sense of accomplishment and control, I was feeling more and more overwhelmed and frustrated. Time was never enough to accomplish the infinite and absolutely unrealistic to-do lists I was making, not to mention my list of goals. I was basically setting myself up for failure by establishing unreachable standards.

What I’ve come to understand (I can’t really say that I’ve mastered this piece, but I’m in the process) is that, in order to grow, one has to get over perfectionism and the fear of failure. This means, setting  up realistic expectations that won’t sabotage your journey but will give you the momentum that you need to keep moving forward.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love lists and use them everyday, but now I am mindful of the items I add to those lists to make sure they work in my favor.

If you are a list maker like me, or even if you’ve never made a list in your life but are a little curious about it, check out the to-do lists I’ve created to keep me on track. You can download the templates for free and use them either as digital PDF’s or print them.

I would like to hear from you! Let me know in the comments what are the types of list you use the most?