Do You Feel Like You Did Not Achieve Anything this Year?

I’m here to prove you wrong.

It’s that time of the year when people start to highlight their major achievements throughout the year. You’ll wake up to people’s photo dumps, the goals they’ve achieved, highlights of the places they went, and so many Gram-worthy recaps.

But you look at your life, and there are no flashy pictures to post. No boxes to tick. No videos to show the high and lofty things you did throughout the year. Your bank account cannot even reflect any major project you completed. And now you’re feeling like you’ve just wasted yet another year, right?

Wrong.

That you do not yet have any physical evidence to show for the things you did in the year is no proof that you did not achieve anything. I promise.

Permit me to say that the critical aspects of life are not essentially about the things that go on social media. They are more about who you eventually become than what you do (and upload to the Gram).

As a matter of fact, you may never know how long it took those people you admire to finally see the beautiful results you are drooling over at the moment.

I also need you to understand that as much as God wants us to do big things for him, there cannot be ‘big things’ without the small things. And God is even more interested in who you become (through those small steps) than what you do for the applause of others. Now, add that to the fact that God does not operate by a 12-month calendar, and you’ll see what I am communicating to you.

So, did you:

Get even an inch closer to God this year?

Get rid of a bad habit?

Pick up any good habits?

Make anyone smile this year?

Become a tiny bit more patient?

Spend more time with the people who matter in your life?

Help anyone?

Learn something good that influenced your behavior?

Win a soul?

Pray for someone till you saw the outcomes?

Then you sure did a whole lot this year! But you can go on and add to the list.

How Not To End the Year Feeling Like a Failure

Now, let me give you some tips to ensure you do not end the year feeling like a failure?

Be intensely grateful

One of the reasons you may feel you did not do well compared to others is that you simply did not do a thorough audit of your year. Another reason is that you are most likely not grateful for the little wins and beauties in your life.

So let’s do this brief exercise to help you see that you did a whole lot this year.

I want you to take out your pen and journal and make out 30 minutes to one hour for reflection and gratitude. Begin from January, and through to December. Try to remember and write down all the things that happened to you for which you should be grateful. Don’t skip anything at all – especially the times you had the privilege of blessing other people.

Thank God for those things. Do it sincerely.

Then tell me; do you still feel like a failure?

Certainly not.

Stay rooted in your identity

Who are you?

Who are you in Christ?

Where are you rooted?

What defines you?

When you get your identity right, you will fully understand that you should not be moved by other people’s successes and achievements. You will also know what success means to your life.

What is God saying?

What if God just wants you to lay low, learn, and serve in this season of your life? What if those high and magnificent things you hope to achieve aren’t the things God wants for you in the course of your current season?

I’m not sure I can ever overemphasize the importance of living according to the unique seasons of our lives. So, find out. Your no-achievement status may actually be what God wants for you at the moment.

Plan to do better next year

Well, maybe you tripped up and didn’t make the most of the year. You probably spent so much time on social media and mindless babbling and failed to focus on the important things in your life. But that’s in the past now, my darling.

Yes, it’s okay to feel bad for mismanaging the year. But don’t do so for long. Do not let that guilt spill into the new year, or else you risk becoming complacent and also wasting the new year.

So, pick yourself up, beloved, and plan to do better next year.

You can use this template (courtesy  of my Coach) to evaluate your year, see where you got it wrong, and then plan to level up in the new year. Pray about those areas and ask for grace to do better.

Let me seize this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!