Do you ever feel like you haven’t accomplished as much as you hoped you would? If you feel this way, you’re SO not alone. Even the most accomplished people I know get regular calls from their inner critic, who blasts them for not doing enough, not making enough progress, not accomplishing things fast enough.

My Year In Review

This year, it’s pretty obvious -- even to me -- how much I’ve accomplished. I grew OwningPink.com into international community that reaches hundreds of thousands of people. I opened the Owning Pink Center. My first two books were published and I finished writing my third one. I went on a 20 city book tour, rocked the mic at dozens of public speaking engagements, and launched a coaching practice. So yes, I know how much I’ve accomplished this year (*pats self on the back*).

It Hasn’t Always Been This Way

But this year is the culmination of years of smaller accomplishments that led me to where I am now. Two years ago, my year end review of my life found me living in the countryside of the Monterey peninsula, having quit my job and written a book that 25 publishers rejected. I spent most of that year in my pajamas, writing for eight hours a day and spending the remaining hours creating art, most of which didn’t sell because the economy tanked right after I quit my stable job as a doctor.  I had very few appointments, earned almost no income, didn’t get out much, and questioned where my life was heading.

Then, in the fall of that year, I attended the Ladies Who Launch conference in San Francisco. While I was there, I decided that I wanted to move to the Bay area and I wanted to become an entrepreneur. And the seed for Owning Pink was planted.

Looking back on that year helped me realize that, while the big picture might not be clear to me yet, I was accomplishing big things -- in little ways. My mantra became “I’m on the right path, even though I don’t know where I’m going.”

An Exercise: Review Your Calendar

If reviewing 2010 makes you question what you’ve accomplished, I have just the antidote. One exercise I love doing at the end of each year is a calendar review. Pull out your daybook for 2010 and look through it, day by day. Glance through all those appointments, all those deadlines, all those meetings and phone calls and dates with friends, family, and colleagues. Look through your vacations and your conference calls and your board meetings. Check out your church functions and PTA gatherings and volunteer hours.

Marvel at what you’ve done. Appreciate your accomplishments. Pat yourself on the back and acknowledge the year you’ve had. Recognize that small seeds grow gigantic gardens. Pay attention to the ways in which you’ve grown, the progress you’ve made, the forward motion. Be proud of what you’ve accomplished. Express gratitude that you’ve come as far as you’ve come. Stop and smell the flowers you’ve grown.

Tomorrow, I’ll be setting intentions for what I want to create in 2011, but today, I just want to stop and revel in what I’ve created in 2010. Will you do the same?

What have you accomplished this year? What seeds have you planted? What green shoots have pushed through the earth? What flowers blossomed? Let us revel in your triumphs and celebrate even the smallest progress you’ve made towards being ALL YOU, ALL THE TIME and living the life you’ve always dreamed of living.

High fiving you all the way,

Lissa Rankin

Lissa Rankin, MD: Founder of OwningPink.com, Change Catalyst coach, motivational speaker, and author of What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend and Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide To Creating Fine Art With Wax.