One week after New Year’s, many of us have broken our resolutions already, and a whopping 92 percent of us will abandon them eventually. When your resolutions relate to your career, it’s all the more important to try to maintain them. So how can you beat the odds?
(Photo Credit: aka Jens Rost/Flickr)
1. Change your mindset.
“[M] most of what gets in our way is inside our heads,” writes Erika Anderson at Forbes. “… Instead of focusing your resolutions on stopping your bad habits (eating too much, smoking, not spending enough time with family), think of them as learning to do something new (eating healthier; finding new ways to calm and de-stress; discovering shared activities that appeal to you and your family.)”
2. Choose a technical goal, rather than an adaptive one.
Julia Ryan at The Atlantic explains that there are two main types of goals, adaptive and technical. Adaptive goals require you to change something about yourself, while technical goals involve learning a skill. For obvious reasons, technical goals are easier to achieve. In terms of your career, learning something new might be more valuable, anyway.
3. Concentrate on the short-term.
Don’t think about the promotion you want to get five years from now — at least not every day. Break up your goals into small, manageable chunks. Ideally, you want to focus on things you can do on a daily basis to get you closer to your goal. If you’re learning a new skill, for example, daily practice will be more valuable than fixating on the expertise you hope to achieve down the line.
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Did you make any resolutions related to work this year? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.
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