How to Keep Your New Year’s Career Resolutions

So You Made New Year's Career Resolutions, Now What?

One of the most exciting parts of New Years is getting motivated and setting New Year’s career resolutions. After the excitement of the holidays wears off, it is a good idea to review your resolutions and determine how you will be able to keep them.

A good way to think about your career resolutions is to treat them as goals you want to achieve by the end of the year. This doesn’t have to be a major goal, maybe you just want to be recognized for your hard work, or simply improve your productivity.

 “The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” —J.P. Morgan

Morgan describes the importance of goal setting in helping you move your career in the direction you want it to go. Once you have your long-term sustainable career resolution written down, it is time to plan out how you will keep it.

Is it Realistic?

Start by analyzing if your career resolution is realistic for you to achieve. If you have decided on pursuing a career as a Health Care Aide, your resolution could be something simple like obtaining the necessary qualifications for the job. Alternatively if you’ve decided you want to try and get a promotion at work, your resolution could be something simple like increasing your productivity.

Map Out Mini Milestones

Once you have your goal clearly defined and you have determined that it is realistic for you to achieve, it’s time to map it out. Write down what the steps are for meeting your career resolution by the end of the year. If, for example, you have decided your resolution is to get the qualification for your new career, then the first step could be to determine how you will get it. Write down mini milestones throughout the year that you can reach and celebrate your progress at.

Replace habits

You will find more success if you replace old habits that no longer serve you with new ones that will do you good. If your resolution, for example, is to increase productivity at work, you may want to replace your work habits with more time efficient ones. Transitioning from one habit into another is a lot easier to adjust to than establishing new habits.

Stay Focused

By the end of the year the biggest reason why people fail to meet their resolutions is because they have lost focus somewhere along the way. The best way to achieve your goal is to consistently reestablish focus on your career resolution. Look at your progress when you are feeling down, and it will help you feel accomplished and motivated. Feeling motivated will drive you forward on your path towards your success.

Place Your New Year’s Career Resolutions on Your Bathroom Mirror

Keep your goal and the mini milestones somewhere you will be able to see every day. This can be digital on your phone, but it works better if it is somewhere in your physical world too. Looking at it daily, even if you don’t read it, will help you maintain focus. As you fill in the milestones you’ve reached, you will feel more accomplished.

These tips will help you manage your goals and establish a system for meeting your career resolutions by the end of the year.