What’s Trending: New Year’s Resolutions
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“New year, new me”? So many people express sentiments of change and renewal at the beginning of each year, but only a tiny fraction of them manage to follow through on their resolutions. What if you actually want to commit to it, possibly to improve your work or change your career entirely?
Well, you must know the tricks of those who make it to have a fighting chance toward success. Check out this compilation of tips and advice from various sources on how to get the most out of your resolutions in the workplace.
Fast Company
There’s a renewal period at the start of any new year. And though many don’t have the gas in them to last, you can use many tips and tricks to become one of the 6% of people who commit to their resolutions. In an article for The Fast Company, Stephanie Vozza interviewed Jim Kwik and Michelle Rozen, authors of different productivity books. They realized that there were seven steps that people usually follow to have a purposeful year.
The first step is to choose only one thing to focus on. What use is having several goals that will only distract you from accomplishing one? Focus on one goal for 30 days; if you can stick to it, it will become another habit. This brings us to the second step: be specific. Know what you want to accomplish, and aim for that goal. Then, as a third step, break a big goal into milestones that can become habits.
“Resolutions are often expressed interests and not real commitments. A resolution should be a decision. Decision, like the word ‘incision,’ means to cut off from any other possibility. It’s making a commitment.”
Once you have created a habit, remember to reward yourself for locking a habit loop. This loop will help you maintain and build your good patterns. You have to tap into your purpose and know why you want something to increase your motivation and commitment. Another thing you should try is having accountability, telling others about what you want to achieve, and having their encouragement to keep you on track.
The most important part is believing in yourself. You’re the one reaping the reward of your efforts, so make sure that you have an optimistic approach and a good strategy on how to achieve your goals.
FlexJobs
Now, what if your big resolution is to change jobs or careers? That can be daunting, but only if you don’t know what you’re doing. As Alexis Reale points out in an article for FlexJobs, the new year might be one of the best times to renew one’s career. As such, she compiled 12 tips that jobseekers can follow for better career advancement.
“And if you’re looking for a new job right now, it might help to know that the first quarter of the year is typically considered the best time of the year to find a new position.”
The tips are as follows:
2. Clean up your social media
3. Solidify your personal brand
4. Find a mentor
5. Grow your network
6. Spruce up your skills
7. Organize your office
8. Define what you want
9. Target specific companies
10. Follow up with employers
11. Practice interviewing skills
12. Prioritize your health
In short, you should organize your CV and social media and rethink any public-facing profiles to get recruiters and hiring authorities’ attention. After you do that, you can start by defining what you want to accomplish, begin building a network, and try to get a mentor.
Inc.
Rashelle Isip, a productivity consultant, wrote an article for Inc. about how companies and business owners can use New Year’s goals to improve their business and boost team productivity. Even though these tips are originally aimed at businesses, they are for anyone in a leadership position or wanting to improve their work.
Some of the most insightful tips are about time management, from starting and ending meetings on time and leading more effective meetings by using “standing meetings” to keep things short and sweet to encouraging concise communication. Time is a finite resource, so using it well is essential for work and life.
“You’ve got countless opportunities for improvement every single day. Compounded over the course of a week, month, and year, these seemingly insignificant activities can quickly add up in value.”
These tips will help you run a tighter ship with a team or all by yourself by prioritizing mental health and productivity for a better 2024.
The takeaway
As the new year’s jitters stop and the excitement passes, it’s still important to have resolutions… no matter if you begin working on them in February. Resolutions are a good opportunity to improve your life and work, so you shouldn’t misuse them. You should create a realistic, specific goal and derive new habits from it to maintain motivation.
