It’s that time of year when 47%* of people are making New Year’s resolutions. I must confess I have been on hiatus from making resolutions for the past couple of years. This year my resolutions are not to eat less, exercise more or try to get more sleep, although I would love to accomplish one or all of those as well. Maybe next year! In 2015, I resolve to inject new energy into my career. So now that I’ve stated it and written it down, what does that mean? What am I actually going to do? And how am I going to do it?
- There are some professional relationships I am interested in rekindle. The objective is not to spray anyone or everyone I have ever met with a LinkedIn request or email blast to increase my number of connections or followers, but to identify a small handful of individuals who I believe having a relationship with will be rewarding – professionally and personally – over time. My goal is to orchestrate these sessions over breakfast, coffee, lunch, or after work, and make the effort to actively cultivate over time.
- I am going to attend a professional development seminar or webinar once a month. Since deciding this is my New Year’s resolution, I have realized there are a plethora of opportunities out there. In fact, many are already in my inbox from my industry, my educational institutions and organizations I have encountered in the past, and sometimes I won’t even have to leave my desk. While the thought of attending a webinar at my desk and not having to venture out in the cold sounds appealing right now and it checks the box, taking advantage of that channel accomplishes the educational part of my goal but not the networking component.
It’s only January, and I already have the list of personal/professional contacts who I am interested in re-engaging with. I have already attended a professional development workshop on personal branding, and I am registered for one on navigating office politics next week.
Two of the things I took away from the seminar were 1) it felt good to get out of my normal routine and meet new, like-minded people and talk about myself and my career in a different context and 2) the people were engaging and supportive.
Hopefully, I will be among the 8%* of people who are who are successful in achieving their resolution. If you made resolutions this year, good luck, and I look forward to keep you apprised of my progress.
*Source: University of Scranton. Journal of Clinical Psychology – Research Date: 1.1.2014
