The New Year is always a time for reflection, when we decide to accomplish our personal goals: lose weight, spend more time with family, or stop smoking. But what about our professional goals?
January is also a great time to re-solidify your work goals. Here are some professional resolutions to consider from the article, “10 Professional Resolutions for the New Year” on Monster.com.
Don’t be afraid to go back to school.
A holistic health counselor decided to go back to school for her PhD in clinical psychology, which will take six years from when she starts. Some people have balked at her about it, but she has a good outlook about it, “My feeling is six years are going to pass one way or another. Would I rather spend them doing something I only mostly like or sort of like, or would I rather spend them doing something that I really like that’s going to get me doing something I really love?”
The lesson is to focus on your passion, not on the perceived time it will take to accomplish your goals. Thinking about going back to school? Now’s the time to look into it, especially if your company offers a tuition reimbursement program. Remember, fortune favors the bold!
Resolve to market your business better.
Just as the cobbler’s children often have no shoes, many professionals and entrepreneurs neglect to take the time to market their own businesses. For example, an advertising executive has been so busy providing marketing solutions for his clients that he’s neglected to do marketing for his agency.
This year, resolve to ramp up whatever it is you’ve been neglecting in your own business or professional life. Do you need to finally learn how to prospect using social media? Start advertising consistently? Whatever it is, take care of your business, and your business will take care of you.
Learn how to delegate work.
One journalist is ready to grow her business by finally taking on some help. “I resolve to spend more time working on my business and less time working in my business,” she says. She’s already hired a virtual assistant, and is in the process of interviewing a part-time office assistant.
If you’re a business owner in need of help, vow this year to hire someone and learn to delegate some work to them. Focus your energies on the bigger picture and the tasks that you need to do yourself. Anything else, assign.
Raise your community profile.
“My resolution is to do more publicity and public relations this year,” says a president of a Manhattan-based event-planning agency. “I’m going to focus on doing more press — because press equals exposure, which equals money.”
What kinds of PR and public events can you get involved with in your local community? There are many opportunities out there, from sponsoring a Little League team to helping out at a soup kitchen. The great thing about charitable events is you’re doing something good for the world, while meeting potential clients in a relaxed, positive environment.
Recharge to continue to charge ahead.
“This past year taught me that taking time to regroup and recharge is essential to being able to give my gifts and effectively wear all of the hats that I wear every day,” says a career coach and strategist.
This year, focus on working more efficiently, so you get more done and don’t burn out. Exercise, eat well, and go to bed and wake up at consistent hours every day. Periods of restorative rest can help reset the brain, so you’re even more efficient and creative on the job. If you need a vacation, prepare ahead of time, talk to people, and don’t feel guilty about it. You deserve some time off, and taking time away responsibly can also show managers and coworkers that you respect healthy boundaries when it comes to work and personal life.