A Guide to Writing your New Year’s Resolution for your Career
Whenever a new year starts, writing down brand new goals and resolutions for the coming twelve months is a sort of religion for most people. New resolutions are not just for your personal life – new directions and goals are also written to improve your work life and career.
Do you feel like you’re working too much? Or do you think that you’re slacking a bit and you let opportunities pass you by?
Here are some tips in writing your resolutions:
1. Are you doing what you love?
If you love your work, most likely, you’re going to be motivated, Happy and successful. Over 80,000 managers base their interviews on these questions that defined happy and motivated workers:
(From Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman of the Gallup organization)
If you’re not motivated on going back to work after the long Holiday break, you might like to rethink your options. Is it time for a career change, a fresh start or maybe a shift in management?
2. Do you have enough “Me Time”?
Work can be very demanding and you can get really caught up in the work load every single minute of your day. Plus, it’s not just the work load, you also have your home life to deal with. An accumulation of these can be very stressful and can take its toll on you. Remember to make time for yourself – exercise, do your own nails, play computer games, blog, enjoy ice cream, watch a movie at home or experiment with a new recipe. This is a great breather and will make you feel like you have a life.
3. Are you learning something new?
Is your career proving to be fruitful? Your career should be paving the way for self-improvement and if your job helping you learn something new everyday, then you are in the right direction. But if your brain is becoming a little stagnant, you might wanna think about what you can do to up your skills.
4. Are you expanding your network?
Sometimes, the phrase “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” holds true especially in getting jobs and improving your career. Try to go to seminars, workshops or socialize more in company parties – you’ll never know who you’ll meet!
5. What’s the next step?
You should ask yourself where you want to see yourself after a year. Do you see yourself still working on the same job or do you see yourself getting that manager position? Going to the next level in your career depends on what you want to achieve. Write down your 5-year goal and break it down to short -term objectives.
Tip: A well-decorated and organized desk and office is a great way to start your 2010. Try to redecorate your work space with funky yet functional accessories like a wireless mouse, cute lifelike cubicle pets, custom bobble heads, or some Bamboo furniture.