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What personal achievement are you most proud of?

ngower

ngower

Member
Nov 20, 2017
4,114
I have an impulse to say don't say things like "I had a kid" or "I got married," but if that's indeed what you're greatest achievement is, feel free to share.

I'm curious, as we get older and things get harder and harder to pull off, what is the personal achievement you are most proud of? Running a marathon? Getting an advanced degree? A hobby you've gotten amazing at?
 
WascallyWabbit

WascallyWabbit

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,582
Finally going to therapy and working on myself even though it came about through difficult circumstances
 
grang

grang

Member
Nov 13, 2017
10,125
I'm 65 days without a drink right now which I didn't think I'd ever get
 
Volimar

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,123
Honestly just still being here. Wasn't always a sure thing.
 
Grunty

Grunty

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,533
Gruntilda’s Lair
Hmmm.. I guess getting to join SAG-AFTRA. I didn't grow up wanting to be an actor but when I made the decision to pursue it I considered being allowed to join a very big moment for me. Still remember when and how and everything. I was proud of myself making it that far.

Also, for a time I had a very, very popular website before things ultimately slowed to a crawl. It was fun and tiring to run, but loved those few years doing it.
 
Alavard

Alavard

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
5,388
After dropping out of university for Computer Science (and then changed my major to English and dropped out of that too), I took a year off and went to a college here in Canada instead for Computer Security & Investigations... and managed to graduate with a 4.0 GPA (as the first person to do so for that program).

That achievement is where I turned things around, got into the industry, and helped me start building my life. I've been in the IT industry for ~15 years now, and in the IT security industry for almost 9.
 
OP
OP
ngower

ngower

Member
Nov 20, 2017
4,114
To the sober folks, I'm just over five years in and I still don't know how I've done it. AA is not for me, but the approach of "one day at a time" is great (and applicable to pretty much anything in life)
 
h0tp0ck3t

h0tp0ck3t

"This guy are sick"
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
2,807
In 1995 when I was in boyscouts I ran a clothing drive for the homeless for my eagle scout project. I racked up two tons of clothes. The organization said it was the most they ever got from an individual. Their record was AT&T with 3 tons
 
BourbonAFC

BourbonAFC

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,466
Being a father, working a stressful and draining job, and still going back to school near the age of 40 to try and make life better for our son.
 
Mattmo831

Mattmo831

Featuring Mattmo831 from the Apple v Epic case
Member
Oct 26, 2020
3,769
Most proud of losing 75 pounds from 2021-2022 and staying a stable weight since (+ - 10 pounds)
 
mangopositive

mangopositive

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
2,466
I'm very good at guitar. I can play along in real time with most music, even music that I've never heard before. I could stand on stage and look like I belong with most successful musicians. And I taught myself EVERYTHING.

Of course, no ones gives a shit about guitar solos anymore, so I might as well have gotten really good at Latin. It's still the perfect toy... always different when you pick it up.
 
Summer

Summer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
184
London
Working through some extremely difficult circumstances to get a degree in modern languages when I was 31, and really making a life for myself in a big city that I love (with a perfect job), which I never thought would be possible when I was in my mid 20s.
 
Dan Thunder

Dan Thunder

Member
Nov 2, 2017
14,163
Cliched but raising my son (alongside my wife). Everyone who meets him say what a lovely, well mannered boy he is.

Aside from relationship stuff with family and friends I'm quite proud that at nearly 50 I can run a sub 20 minute 5k. My hope is that if I don't get injured again this year I can scrape under 40 minutes for a 10k.
 
Titantodd

Titantodd

Member
May 3, 2023
2,109
I have two degrees. Neither of my parents so much as finished secondary school, and absolutely no one in my family or immediate circle growing up had been to university.
 
barbarash22

barbarash22

Member
Oct 19, 2019
614
Professionally just yesterday a short movie I helped with got and award.
I made most of the complicated VFX stuff (mainly two highly detailed 3D chrachters) and I learned this myself, because there was no school for this back then.

Privately my current body condition.
I was overweight a few years ago, now I have my ideal weight and even some muscle, which I always thought to be impossible for me.
 
platypotamus

platypotamus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,516
I have "joked" before that I'm more proud of the garden I built in my backyard than I am of any game I've shipped or either of my children, but it's only KIND OF a joke, because the garden is so outside my wheelhouse that I'm honestly shocked and impressed I pulled it off. I had like 6 pallets of stone in my driveway! I had to use a diamond crusted saw blade to cut some to size! I built drainage into it! It hasn't fallen over or apart in 5 years, and looks good!
 
shaneo632

shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
29,096
Wrexham, Wales
I made a short horror film almost entirely on my own, from concept to filming to post production. Only other 2 crew members were my wife helping with a few camera movements and a composer providing the score. I did editing/lighting/color grade/VFX/sound recording/sound mixing etc all myself and it took FOREVER but I was really happy with the end result.

It's played 3 film festivals so far with other shorts that had 20-30k budgets and dozens of crew members and even won a Best Film award at one of them. It's screened to about 100 people in total so far and I've had some really nice feedback about what I pulled off without a proper budget or a crew which is lovely.

I've wanted to make shorts for years but kept procrastinating. I decided last year to finally give it a go with my mirrorless camera and just make something small in my own house without a real crew. It's been a trip, currently in early prep on my second :)
 
Arjen

Arjen

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
2,046
Might sound lame, but, quitting smoking.
Never thought I could do it, smoked very heavily for almost 20 years, now almost 3 years without a cigarette.
 
ClearMetal

ClearMetal

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,475
the Netherlands
Overcoming my anxiety disorder. It does feel like I quit just before the finish line because I still tend to avoid stress, but I shouldn't be too hard on myself. At my lowest point I was terrified to leave my house and I have come a long way since.
 
eso76

eso76

Prophet of Truth
Member
Dec 8, 2017
8,180
I finally learned how to crack eggs with a single hand


tenor.gif
 
Saganator

Saganator

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,243
Living fairly comfortably and better than my parents despite a not ideal childhood and teens, high school drop out, hanging around a bad crowd, drugs, in trouble w/ the law before 21, and zero safety net from family. There was a time I thought I was on the path of being in and out of jail/prison/homeless my whole life. Just hit my 40s, own my home, got a professional career, and money is not a problem. Just a boring ass old white dude living in the burbs now, 19 year old me would not believe it.
 
Otakunofuji

Otakunofuji

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,176
Wrote a review for a magazine once. Even though I wrote like 6000 other articles online over a 20-year career, that one print review I got paid $125 for is the thing I can point to and people universally go "yeah, you were legit".

A close second is when I kind of ragged on the old Volkswagen Scirocco taking up a spot on a racing game roster and some Scirocco fan forum declared me "The biggest douchebag of the year". That's still super funny to me.
 
pioneer

pioneer

Member
May 31, 2022
4,265
identifying and not having many of the same issues most of my family does: being emotionally repressed, lazy and bad with money specifically
 
Reym

Reym

Member
Jul 15, 2019
2,688
Just finished a rough draft of an animation project. It's not very good (I'm a self-taught amateur) and it's not yet finished, but just the fact that it exists amazes me. My characters brought to life. I made that happen. It's kind of magical.
 
kamineko

kamineko

Linked the Fire
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,656
Accardi-by-the-Sea
If I had to pick one: I don't know if "proud" is the word I'd pick, but I'm sort of amazed that I've been sober 11 years and that I handled so many of the other issues surrounding that

On a lighter note, I'm proud that I wrote a text game in Inform 7 that was pretty well-received by that community (which is a small DIY arts scene, this wasn't a commercial thing)
 
The Omega Man

The Omega Man

Fallen Guardian
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,989
- Owning a Home
- Being fluent in 4 languages
- Being a Singer/songwriter so late in my life, recording my own stuff in my basement and putting out albums just for fun and to share with family and friends.
 
septentrion2

septentrion2

Member
Apr 11, 2023
1,904
Only been incarcerated one time.

All other achievements run the risk of doxxing myself in some way, so I'll refrain.

This is a nice thread to read, though :) Congrats to you all
 
Panquequera

Panquequera

Member
Feb 8, 2021
1,225
-getting a drivers license, all my life I thought i would never do it because of how afraid it made me to be in an accident or be too anxious about it but in 2018 I got it and it's been one of the best decisions in my life

-being an artist on the internet with barely any real following but also being able to get a lot of work through commissions and while last year wasn't as great both 2022 and this year (so far) have been extremely successful (I still would love a more "stable" art job but idk how much it's going to take for me to be there or if i ever get there, both because of the state of creative industries right now in general and constant feelings of not being good enough/too old, etc)

-last year I gave one class in front of a bunch of kids which as someone with a lot of anxiety and panic and also someone who has a weird relationship with kids (I don't hate them but I never felt like I was truly great with them) I was constantly afraid of fucking it up or being a nightmare but it went alright! I still haven't taken more hours as a teacher mostly because I'm too busy with commissions but also I do still have a bit of anxiety of the possibility of getting a bad classroom and having a mental breakdown >_>

that's mostly it I guess, for now
 
Servbot24

Servbot24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
43,468
I guess just having a good career in a field I never trained in. 8 years ago I was on the verge of homelessness with nothing but an art degree, today I have a well paying job in tech, a nice house, and a family. But there's not one singular event that I'm most proud of.
 
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