Why you did more in 2019 than you think

So we're a mere two weeks away from the end of the year.

The end of the decade, actually.

And this whole decade thing is making people judge themselves even more harshly than they normally might. How much have they really achieved over the course of 12 months? Did they manage to carry out even 10% of their plans? God, maybe they're nothing more than USELESS, LAZY CHARLATANS.

I'm as prone to this kind of thinking as anyone else. And so I'd like to make you feel better, the same way I reassured myself this week.

The thing is, we are not properly equipped to judge the amount of stuff we've done in 2019. And certainly not the decade.

Why? Quite simply, we forget.

And we forget, because we've done shitloads.

Grab a piece of paper right now, or open a notepad app on your phone.

Take a deep breath. Do your best to clear your stimuli-bombarded brain.

Write a numbered list of all the new things you did this year, in no particular order.

Work stuff. Creative projects, maybe, if you're that way inclined. Be sure to include anything that was unsuccessful or felt like a dead end, because that was useful in itself. All part of the process, and it surely taught you something new.

Write down all the new TV shows you watched. The movies. The new songs by new bands, or new songs by old bands. The games you played, whether in the form of a video game or one you played with other people's hearts, you BRUTE. 

The changes you made to your lifestyle, big or small.

All the new people you met. The old people you drifted away from or downright decided to jettison. Disconnecting yourself from old possessions and people and habits and belief systems very much count as new things. 

Re-open your mind to the new stuff you did in 2019 and keep writing, writing, writing them down, spurred on as your mind leaps from one thing to the next and remembers so many buried things in the process.

Now, I don't know about you, but I really surprised myself. I won't tell you how many things are currently on the list I'm still working on, because this ain't no competition, but it certainly made me feel better.

For the hell of it, when you finish the list, multiply the total by 10 and you'll have a rough total of the number of new things you did this decade.

Chances are, it won't look too shabby.

If you still don't feel absolved, then consider that the number of things isn't as important as the sheer quality of the best new things you brought to your work and your home and your life.

If you're a creative who'd like to become more conscious of the things you create in any one week, and perhaps add a little accountability to your working routine, check out my free mailing list Jason Arnopp's Sunday Confession Booth. You may well get some value out of this thing. If nothing else, it will add to the list of new things you did in 2019...

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And if you're an author who has a 'first three chapters' proposal package ready to send to an agent or publisher in early 2020, take advantage of my notes for authors service here.

By the way: my mailing list subscribers received this article direct to their inboxes in early December. Join them!