Each person has his own scale of values. That's why someone your achievements in life may seem insignificant. But this is not about them, but about you.
Why do we constantly have to turn to others, listen to other people’s opinions, think every minute about public feedback, afraid of making an unnecessary awkward move? The main thing that your achievements in life were important to you.
Everything depends on ourselves. For some, it is a gold medal at school, a honors diploma at the institute, the title of employee of the month, while others do not consider these indicators of success.
Let's try to figure out what life and professional achievements are in general.
Achievement is most often called a certain positive result, success in something. But this is where the universal concept of achievement ends. And then there are continuous disagreements.
Firstly, they distinguish qualitative and quantitative categories of success and achievements, because, according to some, nothing records success better than numbers.
The numbers always speak for themselves. Many people, when mentioning the phrase “ your achievements in life» want to hear specific data about , favorably distinguishing a person. For example, the advantages of a position applicant among other applicants.
Employers often ask for specific examples to support the candidate's words and talk about achievements in a certain field of activity.
They are most interested in statistics about the work done previously. For example, the number of attracted clients, the percentage increase in the sales volume of the department, how many transactions were concluded.
But for many, not only dry numbers are important, but also what the person himself considers to be his own achievements.
People's opinions about their achievements reveal to others part of their inner world, their... Based on such information, one can understand how a person assesses his strengths, how confident he is, and whether his self-presentation skills are well developed.
Secondly, some evaluate achievements by their quality, or rather by their scale. So, for example, occupying a leadership position after 2-3 years of work at an enterprise will be, in the opinion of “quality connoisseurs,” an achievement. Getting into the top list of “best entrepreneurs in the region” is also a qualitative achievement.
But, as we know, you can’t please everyone, so we need to decide what achievements are for ourselves and achievements in the eyes of the public, because these are often completely different concepts.
In the column " your achievements in life“Under the “personal” mark, you can safely enter everything that is important to you. For example, a self-developed business plan, a good productive idea, getting yourself into excellent physical shape.
Yes, nowadays even a healthy lifestyle can be a personal achievement. And if we talk about, then professional achievements, both qualitative and quantitative, are more suitable here and will be appreciated by others.
Therefore, you can’t rely on your own opinion here. The second category of achievements is necessary when applying for a job, when assessing the competitiveness of your business (if most of the activities depend on you), when determining the quality of work of a department of an enterprise or company.
So, your achievements in life can be very diverse, and there can be as many of them as you see fit, but only as long as we are talking about your personality without reference to society.
In other cases, when assessing your achievements, you will have to proceed from the generally accepted scale of success.
In a recent post, the billionaire admitted that his new favorite book is the historical bestseller Enlightenment Now by scientist and Harvard professor Steven Pinker. The book was published in February of this year, and Gates managed to get a copy before it hit the shelves.
In his blog, the billionaire talked about which ideas intrigued him the most and offered readers the five most interesting, in his opinion, facts from the book.
“No matter how you measure human well-being, the human species has made impressive progress, but no one talks about it.”
Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker (2018)
Despite all the negativity that we constantly see in the news, the scientist’s conclusions are amazing. It proves that, by any objective measure, people are safer today than at any time in history.
“I often talk about reducing poverty and child deaths because it is such an obvious, clear indicator of progress. Pinker looks at facts that are not at all obvious.”
1. Time spent doing laundry fell from 11.5 hours per week in 1920 to one and a half hours in 2014
“Such a detail, of course, sounds like a small thing in the “grand scheme of things,” Gates writes in his blog. But technological innovations in the domestic sphere have given humanity - in particular, its fair half - a huge amount of free time and contributed to overcoming the gender division of labor.
Pinker in his book calls the washing machine the greatest invention of the industrial revolution - after all, it freed up a whole working day per week for man. Overall, he estimates that the time people spend cleaning their homes has fallen from 58 hours a week at the beginning of the 20th century to 15 hours today.
2. Today you have almost no risk of dying at work.
In 1929, the number of deaths from work-related incidents in the United States was 20 thousand per year. Today this figure has fallen 4 times - to 5 thousand, despite the fact that the population has increased 2.5 times.
Early reforms such as the introduction of employer liability and workers' compensation were key to progress in this direction. It is this legal practice, now widespread throughout the world, that has spurred the creation of safer workplaces.
3. The likelihood of dying from lightning is 37 times lower than a hundred years ago
"Humanity's overcoming of everyday danger is a vastly underappreciated form of progress," Pinker writes. And the risk of dying from a lightning strike is just the most obvious example.
After all, this danger has practically disappeared from our lives not because there are fewer thunderstorms today, but because humanity today has the necessary technologies to monitor the weather. Improved safety education and the fact that many more people now live in cities also play a role.
4. The average IQ score around the world rises by three points every ten years.
The brains of younger generations today are developing faster due to good nutrition and a clean environment. Pinker also points out the great demand for analytical thinking in everyday life.
To understand what he means, just think about how often and in what quantities we process information when checking the home screen of our phone or looking at the map on the subway. Despite some negative effects like addiction to devices, processing a lot of information encourages abstract thinking from a young age, and this makes us smarter.
5. War became illegal
This idea seems obvious, but until the creation of the UN in 1945, there was not a single constitutional provision or even international norm that states that countries could not go to war with each other if it was to their advantage.
Conflicts, of course, have not gone away. However, attitudes towards the war have changed. If a couple of centuries ago it was considered commonplace, and the risk of ending up on the battlefield was very high, today in people’s minds war is something unacceptable. But such an attitude is the exception rather than the norm in history.
Many visionary scientists and writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. described their versions of the scientific and technological development of mankind. I must say that none of them were particularly mistaken. In this collection, you will find a brief overview of advanced achievements from various fields of science.
1. For several years now, scientists around the world have been working on the creation bionic eyes that will help blind people regain their sight. At the moment, a 100% result is not guaranteed, but there are already certain achievements
2. reaches a qualitatively new level. Work is underway to improve the prosthesis, which is controlled using the power of thought transmitted through sensors in the form of electronic impulses, as in the body
3. The development of dental patches is in full swing in Japan. It's like a case for teeth. It protects against many harmful influences, including preventing the development of caries. The manufacturer promises to use only natural materials, however, it is unknown how this kind of insulation may affect the teeth themselves
4. Skin regeneration spray. This medicine is used to repair skin after severe burns. Its creators are Australian surgeons, Fiona Wood & Marie Stoner
5. Microchipping people. In the recent past, such services were offered to pet owners so that they could find out where the pet was at any time. Microchipping people is a violation of human rights. For this, the client is asked to monitor his physical condition in order to provide medical or other type of assistance in a timely manner. However, it looks more like a prison
6. The 3D printer is step by step entering the daily life of various industries. This device works with different materials, from plaster to metal, from which the printer can create a three-dimensional model of almost any complexity
7. Unmanned aerial vehicles. Of course, we have already seen this in some science fiction action movie. Stop, but this is reality. At the moment, the length of the “tiniest” drone is 15 cm. In the future, engineers promise to reduce the dimensions to the size of a fly
8. Artificially grown meat. The development belongs to scientists from Holland. The goal is to help patients with various muscle pathologies. At the moment, this material costs a lot of money
9. Prepare for scary stories. Brain stem cells, which are taken from embryos, were implanted into laboratory mice for experimental purposes. As a result, the experimental subjects developed several new functional parts of the brain. In general, scientists are exploring the healing properties of stem cells
10. Transgenic goats. While most of humanity opposes genetic modification, biotech companies continue to work. This time, a new product from Nexia Biotechnology is a goat with spider genes. From the milk of such a transgenic goat, something like a spider’s web is extracted, which is several times stronger than steel in terms of strength.
11. Pill with camera- This is an alternative to traditional types of research of the gastrointestinal tract, such as, etc.
12. Soon, doctors may compete robots - anesthesiologists. Although, it is difficult to imagine how a robot can replace a living person in this area of medicine 
13. Wheelchair controlled by mental commands
14. Animal Cloning listed in the Red Book. True, it is not entirely clear what humanity is trying to achieve with this? Correct previously made mistakes, or hinder evolution
15. Tactical robot, working on organic raw materials. In addition, the highlight of the robot is that it is able to find fuel itself, thereby extending its operation time
No wonder the richest man on earth is an avid reader. And in
On his personal blog, Bill Gates even devotes time to regularly
share with network users your thoughts and impressions about
books they have read.
In a recent post, the billionaire admitted that his new favorite book is
historical bestseller Enlightenment Now
scientist and Harvard professor Steven Pinker. The book was published in
February of this year, and Gates managed to get a copy even before it
appeared on the shelves.
In his blog, the billionaire talked about what ideas intrigued him
most of all, and offered readers five of the most interesting, in his opinion
opinion, facts from the book.
“No matter how you measure human well-being, the human species has made amazing progress, but no one talks about it.”
Steven Pinker
Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker (2018)
Despite all the negativity that we constantly see in the news, conclusions
the scientist is amazed. He proves that, judging by any objective
indicator, people today live safer than at any time in history.
“I often talk about reducing poverty and child deaths because it
such an obvious, clear indicator of progress. Pinker looks at all
not obvious facts.”
Bill Gates
Steven Pinker (left) and Bill Gates
1. Time spent doing laundry fell from 11.5 hours per week in 1920 to one and a half hours in 2014
“Such a detail, of course, sounds like a small thing in the “grand scheme of things”,”
Gates writes on his blog. But technological innovations in household
areas gave humanity - in particular, its fair half -
a huge amount of free time and helped overcome
gender division of labor.
Pinker in his book calls the washing machine the greatest
the invention of the industrial revolution - after all, it freed man
a full working day a week. Overall, according to his calculations, the time that
people spend on cleaning the house, has fallen from 58 hours a week at the beginning of the 20th century
century to 15 o'clock today.
2. Today you have almost no risk of dying at work.
In 1929, the number of deaths from work-related incidents in the United States
amounted to 20 thousand human lives per year. Today this figure has fallen to
4 times - up to 5 thousand, despite the fact that the population has increased by 2.5
times.
Early reforms played a key role in progress in this direction.
such as introducing employer liability and compensation for
workers. It is this legal practice that has spread today to
the whole world, stimulated the creation of safer workplaces.
3. The likelihood of dying from lightning is 37 times lower than a hundred years ago
“Humanity overcoming everyday danger is extremely
an underappreciated form of progress,” Pinker writes. And the risk of dying from the blow
lightning is just the most obvious example.
After all, this danger has practically disappeared from our lives not because
there are fewer thunderstorms today, but because humanity today has the necessary
technologies for weather observation. Improvement also plays a role
security education, and also that many more people
today they live in cities.
4. The average IQ score around the world rises by three points every ten years.
The brains of younger generations today are developing faster thanks to
good nutrition and a clean environment. Pinker also points out
greater demand for analytical thinking in everyday life.
To understand what he means, just think about how
often and in what quantities we process information, checking
your phone's home screen or looking at a map on the subway. Despite
some negative effects such as addiction to devices, processing
lots of information encourages abstract thinking from a young age
age, and this makes us smarter.
5. War became illegal
This idea seems obvious, but until the creation of the UN in 1945, it was not
there was not a single requirement in the constitution or even the international
rules according to which countries could not enter into agreements with each other
war if it benefits them.
Conflicts, of course, have not gone away - in his book the author even
makes adjustments for deviations in statistics due to what is happening today in
Syria. However, attitudes towards the war have changed. If a couple of centuries ago she
was considered commonplace, and the risk of ending up on the battlefield was very high,
then today in people’s minds war is something unacceptable. But this is
attitude is the exception rather than the norm in history.
This photo collection contains the most famous achievements of humanity
Mariana Trench: maximum depth
The Trieste bathyscaphe was designed by Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard based on his previous design of the FNRS-2, the world's first bathyscaphe. Trieste is the name of the Italian city where the main work on its creation was carried out. From 1953 to 1957, it made several dives in the Mediterranean Sea, including setting a depth record at that time of 3,150 meters. In 1958, this device was purchased by the US Navy. After the purchase, it was modified - a stronger and more durable gondola was installed. Despite the purchase, the main pilot and technician of the device in 1958-1960 remained Jacques Piccard, the son of the device’s designer, Auguste.
Jean Piccard (center) and Lieutenant Don Walsh during the record dive. Mariana Trench, January 23, 1960:
The deepest trench known on Earth was named after the nearby Mariana Islands. Its depth was first measured in 1875 using the British ship Challenger, after which the deepest point of the trench was named. Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh were the first to dive into the abyss on January 23, 1960. On the bathyscaphe "Trieste"they reached 10,911 m.
Only 52 years later, on March 26, 2012, their record was repeated by James Cameron, who plunged alone into the Challenger Abyss. The Canadian filmmaker dived on the Deepsea Challenger submersible, during which he produced 3D filming that formed the basis of a National Geographic documentary.
Everest: highest peak
The highest point on Earth was conquered by man 7 years earlier than the lowest. 60 years ago, on May 29, 1953, for the first time in history, a person set foot on Mount Chomolungma, 8,848 meters high. The honor of becoming the discoverers fell to New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. They spent only 15 minutes on the “roof of the world,” but these “15 minutes of fame” forever inscribed their names in history. Hillary and Norgay reached the summit on the ninth British expedition to the summit of Everest. By the way, Chomolungma also owes its more common name to the British, which the peak received in honor of the Welsh geographer and surveyor George Everest.
New Zealander Edmund Hillary (left) and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay are the first people on Earth to conquer Everest. Photo from 1953:
Almost two meters tall, New Zealander Edmund Hillary photographed a diminutive Sherpa on a snow dome with a raised ice ax decorated with flags of the UN, Great Britain, Nepal and India. Climbers using oxygen devices, May 29, 1953.
Moon: the furthest place from Earth where man has been
The crew of Apollo 11, during the flight of which in July 1969 earthlings first landed on the Moon. From left to right: Neil Armstrong (left), Buzz Aldrin (right) and Michael Collins. During Neil and Buzz's landing on the moon's surface, Michael piloted the command module in orbit around the Moon:
On July 21, 1969, at 02:56:20 GMT, Neil Armstrong took the small step that became a giant leap for all mankind, descending the stairs from the Apollo 11 lander onto the lunar surface. The second guest of the Earth satellite was Edwin Aldrin, who joined the flight captain 15 minutes later.
In total, they roamed the lunar expanses for 2 hours, 31 minutes and 40 seconds. During this time, the astronauts installed the American flag and instruments necessary for scientific experiments, and also collected samples of lunar soil. After 21 hours and 36 minutes spent on the surface of the Moon and inside the landing module, the crew left the only astronomical object outside our planet that a person had set foot on. In total, as part of the Apollo lunar mission program, 12 astronauts visited the surface of the Earth’s satellite.
Kola superdeep: the deepest well made by man
On May 24, 1970, drilling began for the deepest “hole” ever made by man. As part of the Soviet scientific program, a well was drilled in the Murmansk region (10 km from the city of Zapolyarny), which reached a record level of 12,262 meters in 1990.
Kola superdeep well. First stage drilling (depth 7,600 m), 1974:
The grandiose project lasted until 1992. Only the first 7 km of drilling took about 7 years. In 1983, the drill for the first time entered the earth's rocks at 12 km. Later, due to accidents and technical difficulties, work had to be suspended. It was not until 1990 that the final world drilling record was set. With the help of the Kola superdeep, scientists wanted to study the most ancient rocks of our planet using the example of the granite Baltic shield.
The Kola Superdeep is sometimes called the “well to hell.” There is a legend at a depth of about 12 thousand meters, the microphones of scientists recorded the screams and moans of people. This is, of course, a myth, although during drilling, phenomena actually occurred for which scientists could not find an explanation.
Kola superdeep. Photo from 2007. At the moment, the facility is abandoned, the building is virtually destroyed, and the well itself is welded shut:
Felix Baumgartner's flight: the highest jump in history
On October 14, 2012, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner made the highest jump in history.jumping from a 39-kilometer height(39.45 thousand meters). The 43-year-old athlete reached this mark in 2 hours 16 minutes in a special capsule. During his fall, Felix exceeded the speed of sound, reaching a speed of 1357.6 kilometers per hour.
He jumped in a spacesuit and for the first time, without the help of aircraft, was in free fall for 4 minutes 19 seconds. This “sidereal” time could have been fatal for Baumgartner in the event of depressurization, but, fortunately, the experiment ended successfully. The extreme jump, which was broadcast live, was watched by about 8 million people.
Garrett McNamara: conquering the biggest wave
The largest wave, the height of a 10-story building, was conquered by Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara. He "saddled"30-meter wall of wateroff the Portuguese coast near the small town of Nazare on January 29, 2013. Garrett McNamara conquers the 100-foot storm:
A giant swell has formed over an underwater canyon, which has a reputation for producing the world's highest waves. This is not the first world record set by the 45-year-old athlete. In 2013, Garrett broke his own world record, set in November 2011 on the same Portuguese coast. Then the Hawaiian daredevil conquered a wave 24 meters high.
Garrett McNamara conquers the 100-foot storm:
Burj Khalifa: conquering the world's tallest skyscraper
While all the main natural peaks have been conquered, the French climber Alain Robert took on the peaks created by man. And he entered the Guinness Book of Records as a conqueror of skyscrapers. Spider-Man has climbed more than 70 tallest buildings in the world, including the Empire State Building (New York), the Eiffel Tower (Paris), the Petronas Towers (Kuala Lumpur), Taipei 101 (Taipei) and main building of Moscow State University (Moscow).
Alain Robert, nicknamed Spider-Man, conquers the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa (828 m):
The first climber managed to climb the tallest building in the world, the 828-meter Burj Khalifa skyscraper.The ascent, which took place on March 28, 2011, took more than 6 hours. Alain Robert is famous for performing his stunts without equipment, but this time he complied with the organizers' requirement and used insurance. Also read the article “Kingdom Tower - life at an altitude of 1 km.”
