How can you tell if you have had a successful year at work?
Here is a checklist:
1. Significant Accomplishment(s) — This is a no-brainer. Have you achieved important, work-related goals — completed a project, received a promotion, set some sort of performance record? Did you complete a project under budget? Focusing on significant accomplishments is the way that we most often measure success, but it’s not all there is to success.
2. Made Your Team Better — Have you done something to make your work team better and stronger? How have you contributed in a positive way to the development of your team?
3. Brought Positive Energy — Did you come to work with an optimistic, can-do attitude? Did you try to remain upbeat and positive, and avoid getting sucked into a negative, pessimistic frame of mind about your job and workplace — staying off of the “gossip and complaining” track? Did you help motivate others?
4. Helped Others in the Workplace — Did you do something to contribute to another’s development as a worker and/or as a leader? Did you mentor someone? Did you teach someone a valuable skill?
5. Demonstrated Leadership — How did you lead during the past year? Did you head a new project or take on a leadership role in a team or department? Did you work to develop your capacity to lead? Importantly, did you stand up for your principles and make sure that your team or the organization did the “right” thing?
6. Maintained Work-Life Balance — Of course, it isn’t all about work. During the past year, did you take time to focus on your home life? Did you set aside “family time,” or did you try hard to improve relationships at home? Did you spend quality time with your family members?
7. Created Lasting Value — Did you do something at work (or at home) that was memorable and changed things in a very positive way? Will your workplace, or your coworkers, be enhanced in some way because of what you accomplished?
Originally published at Psychology Today