Why you should keep an "Evidence of Awesomeness" file
Keeping a record of your wins helps you remember them when you need them
Have you ever been asked to talk about something you’re proud of, only to find your mind goes completely blank?
It’s a surprisingly common experience. Ask someone about a mistake they made a few years ago and they’ll often remember it in vivid detail. Ask them what they’ve achieved over the past year and many people struggle to think of an example.
Part of the reason is that memory isn’t an impartial record keeper.
Psychologists often talk about negativity bias — the idea that we are more likely to remember and give more weight to negative experiences than positive ones. When our ancestors needed to pay attention to many threats to their survival, this was helpful. Today, though, it just makes us more likely to remember the bad stuff, even though we aren’t necessarily going to benefit from that memory. For example, in a performance review, you might dwell on the one piece of negative feedback, even if 99% of the review was positive.
One way to counter this is to keep evidence of all those things we’ve done well.
Start an “Evidence of Awesomeness” file
Call it an “Evidence of Awesomeness” file if you like. Or something else. The name doesn’t matter. And you can keep a physical record or make a digital file on your phone or computer. How and where you store it is up to you. The key point is that you have it.
Whenever something positive happens that you’d like to remember later, write it down.
That could include:
A thank-you email from a colleague, client, or friend.
Positive feedback on a piece of work.
A project you completed.
A problem you solved.
A difficult conversation that went better than expected.
Something new you learnt and how you did it.
A presentation you were nervous about giving.
A challenge that has become routine because you’ve gained experience.
Something that took persistence, courage or commitment.
Why it’s worth doing
An “Evidence of Awesomeness” file is useful because there are plenty of situations where you’re asked to reflect on what you’ve done.
You might be updating your CV, preparing for an interview, writing a performance review, applying for further study or putting together an award nomination. Using your file gives you concrete evidence of those achievements.
And not only that, but any time you are having a confidence wobble, you can simply dig out your Evidence of Awesomness file and remind yourself that you are more brilliant than you think!