David H. Lawrence XVII has done something exceptional I've never seen another actor/voiceover artist/media personality do: he's compiled his own extensive list of appearances on the show Heroes. And mind you, he had a recurring guest role — not to diminish his contributions, but the simple fact is, he isn't a series regular. And yet, as the twisted, manipulative (in more than one way) puppet master Doyle who was last seen being pwned by Sylar, he's put together a — like I said, extensive — page of:
"all of the events, interviews, production, commentary and more on my work as Eric Doyle on Heroes"
At first glance, because there are unfortunate people that shoddy this up, one might mistake this for empty egotism. Absolutely not. It's a man who's done some great and fun things for the benefit of his fans. I know this because I asked him, and after examining the empirical evidence, know it's true.
But even if you aren't in the spotlight like David is, it's really important to keep track of yourself. Save every single piece of praise you get as well as useful criticism — especially that which you've applied and come away with success. Bookmark your participation on blogs and social sites thoroughly, and where it might fade or disappear (the Internet is fickle like that), take a picture. Screengrab and archive it. (It's true, it'll last longer.)
This, by the way, also makes it easier to compile material for a resumé, business report, and numerous other sorts of documents which demand you to summarize what happened in the past. It's your history, after all. You oughta know you best. Clip, save, and retrieve as-needed. And once you have a process in place as I do with great tools like Things, Evernote, and Scrapbook to help, it takes mere minutes a day to catalogue your life… ongoing.
I have a big love and admiration for people who are uber-compilers, because they have foresight into our shared timeline most mere mortals do not. They don't forget mistakes, and they can assess their ascent into the future more reliably because they keep their "chain of history" close, even as it weighs heavy. I've learned from experience as to how this has helped me, and it can aid you too.
So, be like David H. Lawrence XVII. It's also inspiring to visit his blog, where he's 100% clear about his versatile aspirations, shows off his passion, and channels forth one-of-a-kind energy. It's also where you can learn how he got that name.
By the way, if you've ever called AOL, you've heard his voice.
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I'd love to know more about the specific process you use to keep track of everything. Maybe you could make a video about that to demonstrate?
@Jadey: Oh I suspect this might be a series! Problem is, the processes keep shifting. Every week, there's something different I change… it's quite iterative. I can share it piecemeal tho. =)