As we approach the New Year, many of us begin to evaluate the year behind us as well as set resolutions to improve the year before us. We can take this opportunity to not only evaluate personal goals, but professional and career aspirations as well.
Here are a few of our 2016 career resolutions that we felt others could benefit from as well:
Refresh your personal brand. In the professional world, your personal brand is now displayed for the entire world to see in the form of your LinkedIn profile. Your profile may be up-to-date and appear complete, but have you really sat down and dedicated time to make sure that every aspect of your professional life is displayed the way you want? If you have not already done so, adding a professional summary to your profile is a great place to start!
Read news about your field every morning. Try finding a leading news source in your industry and read the news that is relevant to you and your career every morning. This will help you open your mind and allow the creative juices to flow!
Organize your inbox and create a system to keep it clean. Do you struggle daily to keep the emails in your inbox under a certain number? Or do you simple allow your inbox to grow and grow until you have realized that the monstrous amount of information has spiraled out of control? If so, this is a perfect (and certainly attainable) resolution for you! Try keeping your inbox at a max of 50 messages and organize old messages into folders that make sense to you. When new emails come in, try placing the ones you must keep directly into a folder once you respond. Trust us, your life will feel much less cluttered!
Branch out and network with people outside of your office. Networking is one of the most productive things you can do for your career. However, we do understand that it takes a lot of time and effort to master this skill. If you are dedicated to building your network, try testing yourself and branching out beyond your company. Attend networking events for your industry, join a public workshop, or contribute to an online forum.
Make room for risks. No matter what your career (and personal) goals are, it’s very hard to reach them without taking a risk every now and then. Try testing yourself and think about the risks that you may have to take in order to progress in your career, and then actually take one!
Refine your communication style. This year, think about your goals and communicate them with a thoughtful and straight-to-the-point manner. The area of communication is one where everyone has room to improve.
Take a certification course and gain a new skill. This one is pretty straightforward—if there is a course or training that you have had your eye on but just keep pushing down the pipeline, try finally fitting it into your schedule. If you haven’t already picked out a course that you could benefit from, ask your boss what types of certifications they think would benefit you.
We would love to hear what other types of career resolutions you have. Please feel free to leave a comment below!
