Yet another year just passed by! What progress did you make in your career this year? Not much? Or maybe a lot?
Well, if you feel you still need to set goals or track your progress, do not worry — there’s a whole brand-new year in front of you which you can totally utilize in focusing and making better plans for your career. All you have to do is “START NOW”!
One thing that the pandemic, from the time it began, has taught us is that every moment is precious and now would be the best time to start than ever. As it’s rightly said, “Better late than NEVER”.
So what are your work-life goals for 2022 that will keep you fresh and awake every morning with new vibes of positivity and productivity?
What Career Resolutions to Make in 2022?
Here are some ideas for resolutions that you can make this year to build a future you always wished to have-
1. Get your Priorities Straight!
To move in a certain direction, getting your goals clear would be the first thing you would want to do.
What is it that you’re seeking to accomplish? Is it a promotion, pay hike, job satisfaction, or career change or anything else for that matter? What’s wrong with the current position? Why is it that you feel you are unable to move forward?
Do you have any precise answers to all these questions? If not, then you need to seek these answers. How else are you going to move if you are not sure which direction to take and where it will lead you to?
Once you pinpoint the area where you want to improve, there are many ways from there to take. If it’s the better salary that you’re looking for, you might want to enhance your skills or add more to the existing ones and learn to negotiate better then. If it’s a promotion, you could search for a better role in a smaller company or a similar role in a bigger company, as per what you think would be better off for you.
What actions to take will depend upon knowing your career priorities, so, do a thorough internal analysis and get clear on what is it that you want!
2. Follow a YOU-FIRST routine!
Being honest with yourself is the first step to self-discipline. Setting boundaries and restrictions to one’s daily activities will help in increasing productivity and efficiency.
And what could be better than bounding yourself with a routine? It may seem extremely tough in the very beginning, but once you follow the routine with focus and consistency, there’s no looking back.
The routine that you build might be tough, but just remember — It is your routine, it is for you, and it is totally set by you. Yes, that’s why we have called it YOU-FIRST routine.
A YOU-FIRST routine is where you get time to focus on your well-being, to spend time on your hobbies, to build new & healthy habits, to rekindle with your loved ones, to just sit by yourself.
To some — It may sound simple, but you’ll never know until you start doing it and once you do, you will see the difference between the older you and the new one.
This resolution will infuse you with a positive state of mind so that you can be consistent in following the other resolutions.
3. Devote some time to learning!
Learning makes you grow. It’s the only thing that will never be a waste.
Whatever new you learned today will be an addition to your existing knowledge, which means you are a little wiser than you were before. Isn’t it?
This year, add this resolution to the list — TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW!
It may be that you are learning to swim, to play guitar, to code, to paint, to write, to sing, to dance, etc. You can take anything to learn, it does not have to be bound with your career field only, but it should definitely be something that adds some value and that is of your interest. You can visit libraries to get tons of resources to learn, or you can take lectures that are free.
It’s about getting out of the comfort zone every day by challenging yourself to put efforts where you are a newbie. What’s more, you don’t have to start on a bigger level, just start small and simple.
This learning habit should not die after a while when you lose your interest in something, it should prolong for the lifetime to keep your curiosity alive and mind sharp.
‘Remember, CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY WHEN IT COMES TO LEARNING AND GROWTH!’
4. Set smaller goals!
Making a resolution is easy, but sticking to it isn’t. To make it work, you need to take it one step at a time. Breaking up your goals into multiple smaller objectives will help.
For instance, if your goal is job change this year, then you need to split this goal into following tasks -
- Resume revamping and profile update on various job portals
- Extending network and building connections
- Polishing your skills
- Curating the most suitable companies and applying for them
- Actively applying for the potential roles and so on
When you think only of the one big achievement, things become elusive with time as you become passive towards it. Instead, think of small but achievable goals, and you will smoothly move to the bigger achievement ultimately.
5. Be more active!
Instead of moving around a particular task and talking passively, try to show some initiative and take an active approach.
Say, for example, you are a developer, and you are having a meeting with your team or boss for a new project, and they want your expertise in a particular technology vertical.
Now, a passive behaviour would be — to lay low so that you don’t get much work to do, to procrastinate on given tasks or to going slowly with the flow. An active behaviour would be — taking a head-on approach to start with the project, showing initiative on getting tasks planned or to actively work on the given task and presenting it in the best possible way.
While the first one might be enough to keep you on the job, but it won’t take you anywhere. The later one, on the other hand, will build the trust factor among your superiors. It will also help you grow in the organization, and you will gain the reputation of being the ‘go-to person ‘ for specific tasks, which is a huge honour for anyone.
6. Start considering your career as a business!
It takes a lot to start a business, but it takes even more to maintain it.
A business adapts itself to the market changes by updating its products, services, policies, all to deliver a better customer experience.
The same goes for your career!
The market for your career includes all the companies and organizations where your job profile is in demand. To increase your demand or to always stay in demand, you need to brush up your skills continuously.
What is it the current market wants from your profession? What do you have to offer? Why would companies want to hire you? Do you have all skill-sets of your profession that modern companies and employers would be interested in?
Start thinking with a calculative mind like you do in a business, analyze how and where to invest to improve overall!
7. Gain emotional intelligence!
Emotions play a vital role in our growth. Whether or not you are a victim of your emotions shows your true potential in the corporate world.
Knowing when to and when not to show emotion, how to express yourself, and how to handle difficult situations peacefully is what Emotional Intelligence is all about. When you have the power to handle your emotions, dealing with corporate situations becomes as easy as a daily event.
This year, invest some time to become emotionally strong so that you get a fair view of all things without being influenced by your inner emotions and see everything as it is!
8. Expand your network!
If you are excellent at your job, then you have nothing to worry about. You have a lot that companies and employers would have a huge interest in and would love to hire you.
Talent will never go out of trend.
But what if you are an average mind? It’s nothing to be shameful or upset about. After all, the majority of population is not extraordinary and comes in fact under what we call ‘Average Minds’. Only a few out of thousands or more were born with Einstein-like intellect.
This is when having a rich network of contacts and social presence plays the part.
How many people do you know or have a connection with who is in the position of making key decisions, or who is in the power to influence this decision? Is there anyone who can vouch for you or make you visible in the crowd?
In the end, people hire people, so extending your reach on social levels matters a great deal.
Wrap up
This was about what resolutions you can make this year but can you stick to them throughout the year is what counts. How will you push yourself if you fall into the rapturous trap of the comfort zone?
Maybe it’s time you find a mentor who will be there to poke you and show you a stick whenever you slow down, who will guide you when get yourself lost in the dark, and who will see to it that you don’t give up.
These are the things to get on your priority list for this year to bring a swift advancement in your career. And don’t forget that the whole idea of making a resolution is to stay motivated and enjoy every day at what you do.
We wish you a wonderful new year ahead. 😊