Dear LPG, 
    

Today is the day that we are in as deep as we can get. I should explain my theory…

We all know that there will be 365 days this year, but the alarming thing is that we have nearly had half of this year’s allocation already.  Technically, at midday today we will officially, be (or have become… depending on the time and date you read my message) as far into this year as we will ever be and negotiating the second half.  

It is frightening how quickly the time goes really.  I am not going to tell you exactly how old I am but, over the many years I have been alive, it is my experience that as soon as you manage to automatically remember that your birthday has made you one year older, it is time to reset that goal post even higher by a notch.

But depressing all my fellow LPG readers was not the point of my message today.  I suppose that the realisation of the significance of the day has got me asking myself what I have achieved since last New Year’s Day and, in past years, I would have been likely to say not a lot.  

My friend and I had a chat about all this exactly 6 months ago and, after wracking our brains, between us could think of very few things that we could say we have achieved.  But that was also the day that we each agreed to do better and keep a list.  We have both kept going and have each found one positive thing to add each day: sometimes two.   They are the sort of things that are not likely to shake the world or even the people around us, but we know we did them.  

You might think that I am on my way down that negative road again, but I hope that every day brings something uniquely positive with it into the lives of everyone.  Mine this year include making my first online purchase (even though my grandson helped me), losing 2 lbs and keeping it off for a week, acknowledging my granddaughter’s education achievement, receiving a back handed compliment from another old friend, I even included cleaning and defrosting my fridge one day recently.  

The two of us have kept a diary and each made sure that they have at least one achievement entered each day no matter how small, and a few times we have even checked each other’s mini achievements for inspiration.  It has been a positive experience for both of us and I suggest that anyone who feels they are not achieving very much has a go. Finding someone to work with really does make a difference.   I have found a list of the sort of small achievements to get you going.  If you are feeling that ‘I am achieving nothing now’ feeling, I sincerely hope you give it a try. 

Here is one last slightly depressing note…

Today is a day when we have all officially had more than half our allocated time for buying Christmas presents this year.  By my reckoning, there are only 176 shopping days left!

EA, Bellingham.

EA offers some inspiration for your achievement diary…

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