Do your career resolutions inspire you to get up early or stay up to achieve them? If not, you may want to rethink them.
Achieving resolutions of any kind can be daunting. Career resolutions are no exception. The truth is that they require time, effort and sometimes even a cash infusion–things that most people are not willing to sacrifice. Are you? If so, here’s an opportunity to get ahead of the game for 2015.
Implement these key strategies to make sure that your career resolutions have the power to compel performance:
1. Brainstorm for value. What kind of things do you want to accomplish in the coming year? Hold that thought. What are the most compelling goals you have for 2015–that will make the greatest difference in your life? What specific results are you looking to achieve? Really think about this. Only select goals that challenge you to move beyond your comfort zone and that are big enough to make an impact on your personal and professional life. Limit yourself to five or less so that you can meaningfully focus your efforts. Getting bogged down by a bunch of mediocre goals is a recipe for apathy and overwhelm. Don’t do it. Aim high. You’ll have a greater chance of taking your life to the next level and creating momentum for future success.
2. Test the waters. Do you think about your goals on a daily basis? If not, why not? And whenever you do, do you feel excitement, overwhelm or boredom? Are you chunking them down, accomplishing key milestones along the way? Or, have you even gotten started at all? If you find that you are moving further away from, rather than closer to their achievement, you should stop and ask yourself why. Nine times out of ten, it’s a combination of these critical factors: the goal is too vague, too big/too small, or not meaningful enough; there is a lack of inspiration and/or a marginal emotional attachment to the result. The point here is to check in and pay attention to what your performance and results are telling you.
3. Adjust and modify goals and strategies. You’ve selected a few goals and checked in to see whether you’ve made any progress. What if you haven’t? What if you discover that you don’t even value the same goals any longer? Or, what if you need to redefine the process or the result? Believe it or not, this happens more than you may think. What can you do about it? Adjust your sails and chart a new course. That’s what having sensory acuity is all about. When you notice that something isn’t working, you simply adjust until it does. No need to become frustrated. Most people miss the enormous lesson offered in this critical phase: Sometimes success requires that you re-frame a goal, develop new strategies to achieve it or completely do away with it all together. There’s no shame in coming back to the drawing board. Come back. Reassess. And, by all means do not let your dreams slip away.
Are you ready to get ahead of the game for 2015?
To your success.
Karima Mariama-Arthur Esq. is the founder and CEO of WordSmithRapport, an international consulting firm specializing in professional development. Follow her on Twitter: @wsrapport or visit her website, WordSmithRapport.com.