As the New Year rapidly falls upon us, it’s time to come up with new plans and ideas on what we expect of ourselves and how we hope to get there. Don’t sit back and let the New Year come to you; Instead, have a proactive approach to attack it and put yourself at a great starting point. It’s a good time to start over and to use what you learned the past year to make improvements where they’re needed. Always make your personal resolutions but don’t forget to come up with some plans to start year with your best foot forward when it comes to your career!
Start Fresh
Forget Spring cleaning. Start the New Year fresh and toss or delete anything you no longer need. Go over and wipe your entire desk and equipment down. Toss out those pens that barely work and get yourself some new ones. Bring all of those unnecessary and old papers to the shredder and organize the ones you need to keep. Hop on your computer and delete old emails and files. Really take some time and wipe the slate as clean as you can so you can organize what remains!
Come up with an organization system
This is your chance to start and stay organized for the year. Once you start a system to keep everything organized, stick to it! It will make everything much easier down the road so you can always find what you’re looking for. The more you can stick to this system the quicker it will become one of your best habits. One of the most underrated items to get to stay organized is a calendar and if you don’t have one I suggest getting one. Mark in every meeting, deadline, training, or vacation so you can visually see what to expect in any month and to stay on top of them all.
Set Goals
Set some goals for your professional career to go along with your personal resolutions. Start with taking a look at your metrics from last year and see where you succeeded and struggled. Understanding where you need to make improvements can help focus your goals to improve in the New Year. Next get out of your comfort zone and learn a new skill set. Challenge yourself and become comfortable being uncomfortable in the beginning. Grind out the time and take in as much information from the experience and others as possible. It will be much more of a rewarding experience than as a challenging one. Finally, set goals to the “why” of achieving a goal. Maybe you want to make a certain amount of money to take that vacation or buy a new car. Be consistent, coachable, and have the drive to take on the challenges and hit your goals.
Get more involved
There are many ways to get involved with your company and maybe last year you missed some chances because maybe you felt you didn’t have the time. Don’t make the same mistake this year around. If you’re someone who enjoys helping others there could be a team or group in the company that focuses on giving back to the community by volunteering or collecting much needed donations. Use your creative side and get involved with planning company events or how to improve daily functions. If you used to play sports or just love to play, sign up for a company team. Maybe even recruit and start one up! There are always chances to become more involved so don’t sit back and let these rewarding, team building, and exciting opportunities pass by!
Make the New Year better than the year before!
