Starting the Year Off Right with Professional Development Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions aren’t just for fitness - although that is extremely important! You can make professional development goals this year, specifically for keeping your career on track...or maybe getting it back on track. It’s important to set realistic and measurable goals for yourself, or you run the risk of being like most people who make new year’s resolutions who don’t keep them. According to Forbes, here are the most popular career goals set around new year’s resolutions:
Get a raise or promotion.
Reduce stress.
Be more organized.
Quit your job or get a new job.
Improve your work/life balance.
Network more effectively.
Improve your relationship with your boss and/or co-workers.
Enhance your communication skills.
Get a degree.
Be better with email and voicemail.
These goals are all great focal points depending on where you are in your current career situation. Feel free to use this list to start your own, modifying it to meet your needs. To make each goal realistic and measurable, focus on 2-3 resolutions, include a time frame for each, and create sub-bullets that address ways to actually achieve the goal. Here is how one of your career new year’s resolutions might look:
Get a raise or promotion by June of this year.
In January, discuss with my superiors what it will take for me to obtain a raise/promotion (this might be to meet a quota, develop certain skill, secure a new account, etc.);
Check in every 2 months with my superiors to see if I am on track to reach my goal. Request feedback and additional direction.
You’ll have other new year’s resolutions to focus on, but if you make category buckets for your goals, that will help you stay organized and on-track. It’s best to keep 3-4 category buckets (such as health/fitness, career development and academic) with 2-3 goals in each bucket. Once you’ve made your list, share it with someone close to you who can hold you accountable. Offer to be his or her accountability partner as well.
When you decide on your career development goals, we’d love to hear them! Share them with us by commenting on this article or shooting us an email. Good luck!