In many ways, you are already a tremendous success. And it’s important to take the time to appreciate what you’ve accomplished on the path to becoming all you can be. So I (Jim Rohn) would like you to take a self-appreciation inventory. Ask yourself a few questions. Start with: “What have I achieved in the last four days, the last two weeks, the last six months, the last year, the last ten years? What have I achieved during these time periods?”
Write the answers down. Take a self-appreciation inventory of all you’ve done and all you’ve accomplished and all you’ve become. Take inventory of yourself, then compare this list to your goals. Have you accomplished all you set out to do in the last four days, two weeks, six months, one year, and the years? Compare your lists.
Maybe you’ve been so busy trying to reach your goals that you haven’t taken the time to sit back and reflect on what you’ve achieved already. Look back at your list and say, “Wow! I really have been through a lot. I really have learned a lot. Look what I’ve done! Look what I’ve become! I wasn’t like this ten years ago or even one year ago. Look at me! I’m doing okay!”
Building personal success takes little steps. You need to focus on one step at a time, one day at a time, one week at a time. It’s like taking your family to reunion where people haven’t seen your kids for a year. They say, “My, look how you’ve grown.” You know your kids have grown, but when you see them every day, it’s hard to notice.
So write down all your accomplishments and see where you’ve been and what you’ve done and who you’ve become. You’ll say, “My, look how I’ve grown!”
Here’s the next question in your self-appreciation inventory: “What could I have achieved that I didn’t?” Be honest now. This is your own inventory. Nobody else has to see it. What could you have achieved over the last week, the last month, the last quarter, the last year? What could you have achieved that you didn’t?
Would a game plan have made a difference? Would a different direction have made a difference? Would greater preparation have made a difference? Would more discipline have made a difference? Would time management have made a difference? Ask yourself, “What could I have achieved that I didn’t?”
Now take this one step further with the question: “What do I want to achieve in the next four days, the next two weeks, the next six months, the next year, the next ten years?” This all falls in line with your goals: what you could achieve has to fall in line with what you want to achieve. And through the proper disciplines, practiced every day, the “What could I do?” will naturally match up with “What do I want to do?”
Here’s another question: “What can I do to achieve my goals that I’m not doing now?” What things do you need to work on that you’re not working on now?
Remember, it’s easy to do the little things, every day. It’s also easy not to do them.
Are you appreciative of the progress you’ve made so far? It’s important that you take time out to acknowledge yourself and your achievements. Consider where you’ve been and who you’ve become. Self-appreciation is a stage in personal evolution that demonstrates maturity and resolve. It comes from already being firmly set on the course of positive self-direction. You know you’re on the right track, and you have a wonderful blend of humility and self-esteem. You know that you’re accomplishing your goals. And you know yourself enough, and are confident enough, to avoid needless bragging.
Self-appreciation also says that you admit there’s room for improvement. You know that you’re on the right track, but you admit the need for continued growth. You seek out more books, more seminars, more skills, more disciplines, a greater awareness, and a bigger vision.
There’s always more room to grow. There’s always more knowledge to gain, more skills to perfect. We’re never done with the education process, because education is part of the path to wealth. Education is part of the path to health. Continued education can turn you around if you’re headed in the wrong direction. We must never stop learning, growing, and expanding.
And we must never forget to take the time to appreciate ourselves for what we have done in pursuit of what we want to become.
* Source: Leading an Inspired Life by Jim Rohn