So now that the cookies are all gone, and the parties are over, and you are starting to work out and eat better so you fit into your clothes again, it is time to set some new goals for your career.
Your career goals are just as important as the other goals you set for yourself each year. They are what will keep you on track, focused and moving forward instead of stuck in last year and struggling.
In order to set these goals I suggest that you take an hour or so out of your day, find someplace quiet that you can concentrate, grab your favorite drink, your favorite pen and a fresh notebook and do the following:
Review last year
You want to spend some time reviewing what all happened to you in the year that just ended.
- What were your losses, disappointments and breakdowns?
- What lessons did you learn?
- What wins did you have?
- What did you accomplish that you are proud of?
- What did you wish had happened that didn’t?
Be honest. No one but you will see this unless you choose to share it with someone else. Honesty in this part is going to help you tremendously with the next part and looking back on this is going to keep you motivated to move forward.
Plan for the New Year
Now you want to really think about what you want to see happen this year. You have a fresh slate in front of you and you can draw a map to anything you want. So what do you want?
- What are your goals?
- What do you want to achieve this year?
- What do you want to change from last year so you don’t repeat mistakes?
- What are the action steps to get there?
A very important factor is your action steps. You need to determine these in order to move forward. A way to do that is to write down your first goal and underneath it write down when you want to accomplish it by, the steps (one by one) that need to be done to reach the goal, the support you will need, any ideas that come to mind around any parts of this goal. Once you have everything fleshed out in detail you can move to the next goal.
The point in doing this is that you will see everything in front of you and it will be in bite size pieces so that you can easily do at least one action step each day to get closer to your goal no matter how much time you have available. This will give you a sense of accomplishment each day and move you closer to where you need to be.
I would love to support you if you are interested and invite you to contact me if you would like to chat about how I can help.
Start planning for an amazing year and keep your goals in front of you at all times so that you don’t get sidetracked from them or let them slip away and you slip back into old, bad habits.
Enjoy! This is a fun exercise and one that will get your juices flowing and your motivation to move forward kicked into high gear!