Guest blog by Diana Duque

This one could almost be a corollary of the previous goal but indulge us and make this a separate goal.

It’s nearly impossible to adequately discuss everything that happened in the span of a year, so don’t even try. Instead, focus on summarizing your year in the form of a list that can be used to tell a story. This will also help you keep a record of your achievements and pitfalls and either keep them up or improve them.

Using storytelling will help your boss follow the narrative of your successes — and put your failures and mistakes in the context of your development. This holistic approach to storytelling also allows you to circumvent recency bias, which is especially important if your year started off strong but ended on a sour note.

This list is also useful for those moments where you might feel your motivation slipping through your fingers. Reading about what you’ve accomplish will certainly improve your mood. And if you’re going for a raise or a promotion, it helps to keep these ideas easily accessible to use as arguments in a negotiation setting.