Feeling Unaccomplished? Here Are My 6 Best Tips
Photo by Jhonatan Saavedra Perales on Unsplash (+ my beautiful “script” edit)
Feeling unaccomplished is normal — not to minimize your experience with it. But personally, just knowing that I’m not alone with this gloomy mood helps a lot.
Luckily, there are some effective strategies to shift your perspective and feel more chill about this whole thing. So I’m sharing simply what works for me.
Because if you’re struggling on a deeper level, it’s awesome to talk it out with a true professional (for example, using a platform like BetterHelp).
But for our purposes, here’s how to solve those pesky feelings like you’re not doing enough or haven’t achieved enough.
Alright, let’s do this!
Table of Contents Show
Reasons We Feel Unaccomplished
This can be pretty personal, but there are some common causes worth knowing.
This is actually a solid first step to feeling better about yourself. By identifying the potential causes of your rogue feelings, you can shine a light on them and become more aware of their existence.
Then, you can get to work on creating solutions to resolve those negative feelings.
So spend time doing some self reflection to discover your own triggers or causes. But here are a few potential reasons for feeling unaccomplished:
Rogue social comparisons
Diminishing returns (the more you achieve, the more you need to achieve to feel the same effect)
Jealousy
Environmental factors
Thinking too much and not taking enough action on things
Past experiences
A lack of confidence
How to Deal With Feeling Unaccomplished (6 kick-ass tips)
Okay, onto the good stuff.
These are my favorite ways to deal with feeling unaccomplished.
1. Create
“No one is more anxious than the ambitious person who creates nothing.”
I saw this quote recently from Zach Pogrob’s Instagram. And it just hits.
It’s also a great strategy to stop feeling unaccomplished in life. Your feelings of not doing enough may stem from the fact that you know you can do more (but haven’t).
You have ideas, visions and dreams. But they’re stored in your mind and have never seen the light of day.
Change that. Start creating more.
Anything really, just make stuff and don’t worry about quality. Make mistakes, fail, look awkward and be weird. Become authentic.
Just start creating.
Feel accomplished, for at least you have tried.
Recommended: How to Be More Creative
2. Travel
Travel forces you to meet new people, stretch your comfort zones and naturally do interesting sh*t.
Confidence improves and perspectives shift.
It’s so worth it.
So if you’re feeling unaccomplished and you’re not sure what to do or where to turn, plan a trip. Buy a plane ticket and throw yourself into the world.
Traveling can be scary, but it always gives backs more than it takes. I spend money on planes and hotels to get lost, feel uncomfortable and look like an awkward idiot in front of foreign strangers in some far-off land.
But afterwards, I feel…different.
Revitalized. Stronger. Better. Confident. Nostalgic.
Accomplished.
The greatest comforts in life come after the greatest discomforts. So go travel. It will give you the best ROI in life.
Recommended: How to Travel More In Life
3. Flip the Script
Flipping the script means reframing your negative feelings as being something more positive and actually helpful.
So let’s transform the negativity of feeling unaccomplished into something more useful.
For example, here’s why feeling unaccomplished can actually be a good thing:
It means you care (step one to change is wanting to change)
It exposes your weaknesses and bottlenecks (fresh insights and data)
It’s a sign you’re coming up against your limit (growth lives on the other side of that)
Struggles make us stronger, smarter and more confident (so embrace this one)
You’re being honest with your feelings (nice self awareness and intuition)
Your subconscious knows that you’ve got more to offer (you’re not settling)
4. Get Perspective By Reverse Thinking
Reverse thinking is a mental model where you think of the ways to make a problem worse rather than fix it.
By doing so, you usually end up finding new (often obvious) perspectives and solutions.
So let’s use this hack to feel more unaccomplished. Here’s how:
Imagine how to make your sense of accomplishment feel even worse
Think of ways to avoid feeling accomplished
By facetiously listing out different ways to feel even more unaccomplished, you’ll realize one of two things: 1.) you’re further along than you give yourself credit for, or 2.) you know exactly what needs to be done to resolve your negative feelings.
Either way, this thought exercise is a fun one to try.
So, how could you feel more unaccomplished?
What actions could you take to become even more unaccomplished?
Recommended: How to Think In Reverse
5. Get Some Small, Easy Wins
If you’re feeling seriously unaccomplished, it can help to start getting some small wins in the bag.
This will boost your confidence and make you feel a little more accomplished (or at least, like you’re on your way).
The trick is to find some smaller, easier wins. Getting into the habit of micro-winning will compound over time and also improve your ability to go after bigger Ws.
And remember, small wins don’t need to be important or even relevant to your longer-term goals. It’s just getting used to checking things off as accomplished. Habits beget change.
So here are some ideas for small, easy wins to go after:
Tackle your to-do list items
Start a savings account
Finish a book
Declutter and donate old clothes
Deep clean your space
Start something new — and stick with it (like learning a language or an instrument)
6. Do Something
This last tip is a bit obvious. But if you’re feeling bad about not doing enough, then it’s simple — do more.
Mark Manson calls this the ‘do something principle’ and I actually wrote a whole article about it (which you can read here).
Essentially, the do something principle tells you to focus on just getting started with something rather than waiting for motivation or “perfect timing”.
It’s a simple, obvious strategy to get out of your own way and build sustainable habits.
First steps lead to new routines. Routines lead to habits and habits…well, they lead to change and, eventually, feeling accomplished.
So just go do something.
Later ✌️
Feeling unaccomplished is normal. And there are totally ways to resolve it.
My favorite moves include taking action, being creative, travel, getting some small wins in and flipping the script.
But it also helps to consider why you’re feeling unaccomplished. Often, identifying the cause can help you create a custom solution.
So with that, congrats on reading this whole article!
Now that’s an accomplishment (especially in this short-form, on-demand world 😉).
Want More? Okay. Here’s More.
