New Year Resolutions - Van View
LIFE’S WORK: Viewpoints on Careers, Workplace Culture and Balance
You may feel excitement or dread at the resolutions bug which strikes with the midnight clock on
New Year’s Eve, but it’s hard to ignore the energy in the air. It’s time to make pledges and launch changes, many of them related to career and work/life balance. With the right motivation and a strategic action plan, you can keep your resolutions -- the key is to focus on why you want to change and how you’re going to make it happen.
MINTO ON WHY
To separate yourself from the 95% of people who say they make resolutions on Dec 31 only to break them by mid-January, you need to set some goals that genuinely inspire you. Don’t do what you think you should do, or what you think you can manage: be authentic and be audacious! Ask yourself where, specifically, you want to be in the Spring? In a year? By your 40th or 50th birthday? Who do you want to be with? What do you want to be doing? You can change your present state by imagining, in vivid detail, who you will be when you achieve your goals. When you can answer above questions and actually feel the sensation of tomorrow’s achievement today, you’ll have enough dynamic energy to get yourself moving.
Keeping yourself moving will require help from other people. Motivation is all about giving yourself a reason to act. Who are you doing this for besides yourself? What will your spouse, best friend or your kids say to you a year from now if you do not keep your resolutions? Of course they won’t leave you, but fear of disappointing others often leads people to keep their goals secret – a better tactic is to make a public statement of intent and use your fear to make you accountable. Have the courage to tell people you care about that, “By this time next year you will . . . X” Maybe you’ll be an event planner for a major promotions company, earn 20% more, or work flex days at least twice a week. Visualize the significant people in your life celebrating and benefiting from your success or experiencing disappointment by your setback. You will then have the required mix of fear and excitement necessary to keep moving forward even when times get tough.
Minto Roy
President
CareersToday Canada
www.careerstodaycanada.com
www.mintoroy.net