I was talking to a friend recently about how easy it can be to forget the projects you’ve worked on as time goes on. Memories fade because we get older, because it’s hard to always know what things are important versus which things can be thrown by the wayside.

As a kid, I really enjoyed reading the daily baseball box scores during the season. I’m talking I would use the Baseball America to look at minor leaguers and follow their careers. Not sure why I cared so much, but the stakes are just as high when it comes to recording your own accomplishments.

Having spent a lot of time recently helping friends prepare their resumes for job openings, I’ve thought about a lot of the lessons I learned on my own through trial and error about applying for jobs. What things matter? What things don’t matter? A lot of my own lessons came from using the web to crib what other people were doing until I found a style that I could mesh into my own. Over time, I’ve learned what resonates and have been able to tailor the message for the audience.

Even if it’s just keeping a website of your own as a chronicle of what you’ve been up to, it’s important to keep tabs on your work as you grow through your career. This can start while you’re still in college (or even high school for some of you) and grow with you as your career grows. I imagine that’s what LinkedIn was thinking when they opened up their network to college students last year.

If you know your goals, it’s easier to distill your accomplishments over the years worth sharing. You can always go back and cut things as time goes on. But you have to start recording while you remember.