8 Reasons Why You Need to Keep Track of Your Accomplishments

Tracking your accomplishments is not only a tool for self-reflection, it’s also a key factor in achieving career growth. Here's why it's crucial for your professional development.

1. Earn a Bigger Raise or Promotion

I’ve personally experienced this: you work hard all year, but you get a small raise or a simple pat on the back. This happens because your manager may not fully grasp the impact of your contributions. Keeping track of all your accomplishments gives you the fuel to help make your case for a bigger raise, a promotion or new opportunity.

2. Keep Your Manager Updated on Your Success

As mentioned earlier, keeping your manager more informed of all the great things you are accomplishing is very important. Yes, you probably have weekly meetings to talk about things, and yes, you probably mentioned the things you are working on. The issue is that your manager has other direct reports and remembering all the things is near impossible. This is why keeping a list will help your manager refresh their minds, and keep things from slipping through the cracks.

3. Leverage Your Accomplishments for Job Opportunities

If your manager or company doesn't value your hard work, dedication and accomplishments in moving the business forward, it may not be you, it may be them. Listen, not every job is a perfect fit. It is up to you to find a job where you are valued for the work you do. Sharing your accomplishments will help you show your future manager your skills which will give you an edge. "Yes, I've done that a few times and was very successful. Check out the comments and feedback with my efforts." This is worth it's weight in gold in an interview.

4. Streamline Your 360 Review Process by Tracking Your Wins

With the fast pace of a lot of jobs, it may be difficult to remember what you accomplished 3 months ago, let alone recalling a years worth of business wins. If you stay on top of your wins as they happen, writing a 360 review for yourself will take less than an hour, rather than multiple days with a high probability of missing some key points (and as you know in #1, this can have impact your bottom line).

5. Gain Valuable Insights Into Your Strengths and Growth Areas

Ever ask yourself "What did I work on this year?" This is key to acquiring a better understanding of your strengths and growth areas. Which projects did you excel at? Which did you struggle with? Which did you ask for? Which did you try to avoid? Which projects gave you the most joy? Which projects had the highest impact on the business? These questions and more can help you better understand yourself and your impact.

6. How Tracking Accomplishments Builds Your Self-Advocacy Skills

I was a quiet professional. I did my work the best I could, kept my head down and believed good work will be recognized. This generally doesn't happen. On the flip-side, you don't need to be a braggy Brian and showboat at work. Keep your humility, stay professional and share your accomplishments. This takes time to grow your skills here, especially if you feel uncomfortable doing so. Keeping track and share with your manager to start, most likely they are asking for this anyway. As you grow more comfortable sharing what you have done, start working that in to conversations with co-workers. Keeping people informed is important and a skill you can hone over time.

7. Protect Your Career Data by Owning Your Accomplishments

Many companies out there have great HR software that helps you and your manager stay updated, manage 1:1's and yearly reviews. What happens when you leave that company? Yup, your data stays with the company. If you are savvy enough to think about exporting your data, or if you have saved that over time, wonderful. If you didn't think about it, well, you are out of luck. Keeping all your accomplishments in a place where you own them can help you over time and is worth the effort. Share with your new manager or new job or post on social to help land a new job. All of these have multiple benefits.

8. Recognize and Celebrate Your Achievements to Boost Confidence

Yes, you are awesome, and this is a great way to show yourself over time how awesome you truly are. It can be so easy to only focus on the things you failed at, are not good at or struggled through. Focusing on only the negative keeps you down and does not help your self confidence or mood. Reflecting to learn and grow from your mistakes is important, but that is only the half of it. The other half is reflecting on the good things, to give yourself a pat on the back and a high five for all the great things you have accomplished over time. Believe it or not, you have grown over the year in a very positive way, and you deserve to recognize and celebrate that. Listen, you are the only you you have.

Conclusion

Start tracking your wins today. Whether you're aiming for a promotion, a new job, or simply to recognize your own growth, keeping track of your accomplishments will help you succeed.