FORWARD: This post was initially written on August 23rd, 2010 but I am now uploading it to the Steem blockchain via @engrave on ChrisRice.blog. My main website is now ChrisRice.xyz.
Further in Jack Canfield's book, he outlines an exercise aimed at acknowledging one's past accomplishments. The theory is, if you embrace the success from your past, you'll be more equipped with confidence to continue succeeding in the future. In other words, if you've succeeded once, you can succeed again.
My goal is to record 100 accomplishments dating from my birth to present time. If your not busy, take some time to do it too. Realize your success and write it down. It's well worth it.
Here are my favorite moments of success: (share your success list with me)
Birth to 9 Years Old
When I was 5 years old my kindergarten teacher showed my class a jar full of pennies. Who ever could come up with the best guess as to how many pennies there were in the jar would take the jar home as a prize, pennies and all. I counted a group of 5 to 8 pennies then visualized how many groups it would take to fill the jar. Call it math or call it luck, either way, I was able to win the grand prize. It felt good to make my teacher proud.
At the age of 7 I decided I was ready to ride my bike without training wheels. In taking initiative I grabbed a wrench from our garage and went to work on the side of the street, right next to the sidewalk. It almost took an hour but soon enough the training wheels were off. I then, got on my bike, looked ahead and rode it for the first time on two wheels.
10 to 17 Years Old
At the age of 14 I scored my first job at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
At the age of 16 I graduated High School as a junior, a year ahead of my class.
At the age of 17 I joined the US Navy under Aviation Electronics. After finishing boot camp I was flown to Pensacola, Florida for A-School. I finished in the top 5 of my class for common core and after negotiating with my chain of command I convinced them to change my course from Aviation Electrician to that of an Aviation Electronic Technician.
18 to 25 Years Old
At the age of 19 I had $25,000 in savings and investments. This was a landmark of what I envisioned before joining the military.
In February of 2006 I made $10,000 in a 1 month stock trade with a $1,000 investment. In the long haul I was not so successful with my trades and investments but it was nice to experience a few good wins.
At the age of 22 I bench pressed 215 lbs. This was a long time coming as I had been working out off and on since I was 16 years old.
In 2007 I founded Shelter Listings, a 501c3 nonprofit in California. I did the administrative work, web work, and developed the online housing database. Shelter Listings' database consists of over 3,000 listings and many of them include crucial information such as length of stay.
In April of 2009 I bought my first car and learned how to drive. I already had experience driving with a driving instructor and friends but I wasn't good at it yet. I also learned how to navigate across the bay and had a new found freedom to go where ever I pleased.
On March 5th 2010, I married my beloved wife on my 25th birthday.
Thanks for reading :)
UPDATE: It's now 2019 and in about 5 months I will celebrate my 10 year wedding anniversary with @emafe. My marriage with her is by far my greatest accomplishment and I suspect that the raising of our son, @zaclucas will be our greatest accomplishment together (our marriage is also "our" accomplishment). I consider our marriage a great accomplishment since it required sacrifice, and it ultimately led me to realize that all accomplishments are temporary in nature, will not last and that all we have and are in terms of existence will fade - what we are beyond existence may never fade, but that is a different realm entirely (in a way).
