Do a done list!

I freely admit that I am a list addict, I write many to-do lists every week, lists when I pack, shopping lists... and even lists of lists apparently...

Anyway, last week I was writing my annual review at work and I realised that in my personal life I only write lists of tasks and plas for the future, but never take time to think about what I have accomplished... So I urge you to write a done list, of things you've accomplished and are proud of.

Start with the really big and important things - relationships. Add to your list any relationship in your life that makes you happy and proud. This could be your partner, parents, family, friends. All of these relationships are significant achievements demanding time and effort, and we should see them as such.

Have you completed anything which you thought was difficult - a course, a project, a challenge. It can go from completing a degree, to doing a really good job on a presentation at work, to decorating your home in such a way that you feel cosy in it or achieving the time you set out to meet in a 5k run. Add all of these to your list.

Move on to skills. What are all the things that you can do? Can you cook, ice skate, sing, make a great margarita?

Now to more philosophical themes. Have you managed to make yourself independent? Do you have fun most days?

Ask people close to you to contribute to your list if you get a bit stuck.

Now look at your list...

What impressed me most of all with this exercise was not so much the number of things on my list, but more that quite a few of them were things that really mattered...

My list also left me feeling grateful - for the good relationships and for all the things I've had the opportunity to learn.

Now it seems to me that this is a list I should have done long ago, not yet another to-do list, but a done list.