First Achievement
Now that you’re set up, let’s create your first achievement. This guide walks you through each field and provides tips for effective documentation.
Creating a New Achievement
- Click the New Achievement button in the sidebar
- Or use the keyboard shortcut: Cmd+N (macOS) or Ctrl+N (Windows/Linux)
Basic Information
Title
Give your achievement a clear, action-oriented title. Start with a strong verb:
Examples:
- “Launched new checkout flow increasing conversion 15%”
- “Built real-time notification system for 2M users”
- “Led migration from monolith to microservices”
Date
Select when the achievement was completed. This is important for:
- Organizing achievements chronologically
- Filtering by time period during reviews
- Combating recency bias (recent work seems more important)
Notes (Optional)
Add private context that won’t be exported. Use this for:
- Background information
- Links to internal discussions
- Personal reminders
The Altitude Framework
This is what makes HeroJournal unique. Frame your achievement for four different audiences:
For Peers (Technical)
Write the technical details that fellow engineers would appreciate:
- Architecture decisions
- Technical challenges solved
- Implementation specifics
- Code quality improvements
Example:
Implemented event-driven architecture using Kafka, reducing system coupling and enabling horizontal scaling. Migrated 15 services over 3 months with zero downtime.
For Manager (Outcomes)
Focus on outcomes and team impact:
- Results achieved
- Team collaboration
- Process improvements
- Goals met
Example:
Led a cross-functional team of 5 to deliver the new checkout flow 2 weeks ahead of schedule, resulting in a 15% increase in conversion rate and $2M additional quarterly revenue.
For Skip Level (Org Priorities)
Connect to organizational or department priorities:
- Strategic alignment
- Cross-team impact
- Department goals supported
Example:
Directly supported Q3 OKR to improve platform reliability, contributing to the 99.9% uptime target and reducing customer-reported issues by 40%.
For Leaders (Business Impact)
One sentence summarizing business impact:
- Revenue impact
- Cost savings
- Strategic value
Example:
Delivered infrastructure improvements that enabled 3x user growth while reducing operational costs by $500K annually.
Metrics
Add quantifiable results to strengthen your achievement:
- Click Add Metric below the metrics section
- Enter your metric (e.g., “Reduced page load time by 40%”)
- Repeat for additional metrics
Strong metrics include:
- Percentage improvements
- Time saved
- Cost reductions
- User/revenue numbers
- Before/after comparisons
Evidence
Link to supporting materials:
- Click Add Evidence below the evidence section
- Paste a URL (PR link, doc, Slack thread, email, etc.)
- Repeat for additional evidence
Good evidence sources:
- Pull requests / code reviews
- Design documents
- Slack/Teams conversations
- Customer feedback
- Dashboard screenshots
- Email threads
Tags (Optional)
Add tags to categorize and filter achievements later:
- Project names
- Skills demonstrated
- Team names
- Categories (leadership, technical, process)
Saving Your Achievement
- Review all fields
- Click Save (or Cmd/Ctrl+S)
- Your achievement appears in the list
Tips for Great Achievements
- Document promptly - Write achievements while details are fresh
- Be specific - Include numbers, dates, and concrete results
- Think impact - Focus on outcomes, not just activities
- Collect evidence - Save links to supporting materials
- Review regularly - Update achievements as you learn more about their impact
Next Steps
Congratulations on your first achievement! Explore more features: