Each year directly after the New Year’s celebrations finish up, we all hear about the New Year’s resolutions. It is commonly known that over 50% of these New Year’s resolutions are broken within the first week of the New Year. By mid-month, another 50% of New Year’s resolutions are broken. This translates into approximately 75% of the New Year’s resolutions are broken and forgotten.
What are we to make of this annual ritual? After all, it is not that these New Year’s resolutions are not meaningful or important. There are numerous personal and family New Year’s resolutions which are left sadly unfulfilled. What about you and your career? Is it a good time to create New Year’s resolutions for your career? You will need to follow a method designed for a successful outcome.
Let’s first examine the breakdown in one or two personal resolutions. These examples may shed some light on how you should set yourself up for success in your career resolutions. The number one personal New Year’s resolution is ‘to lose weight’ or ‘to get fit’. If these are your New Year’s resolutions how is the progress measured? What is it measured against? If the resolution is ‘to lose weight’ - the rest of the sentence describing the resolution must describe something similar to the following – lose 10 lbs. in month one, lose 10 lbs. in month two, lose 15 lbs. in month three. A total of 35 lbs. will be lost.
If the resolution is ‘to get fit’ – the rest of the sentence describing the resolution must describe something similar to the following - run 2 miles a day for four days a week each week in January at a pace which permits completing the two miles. In the second month run two miles a day for two days a week at the same pace, and two miles a day per week the other two days at a pace 30% faster.
These have now become measurable goals instead of loosely defined New Year’s resolutions.
Let us now look at your career and determine what two or three New Year’s resolutions you might create. For example purposes only – one might determine ‘to not micro-manage everything’. You recognize whenever you have a presentation to a group, you jump in and reserve the room, order the audio visual set up, call in the food or beverage order, all in advance of the meeting, rather than permit others who handle all of these items for everyone else at the company. Take note each time you have a planned group presentation, who you will contact and provide them with your basic requirements for the meeting and then – STOP! Permit these professionals to do their job in support of you.
Another example might be – ‘to not focus on the small stuff, only the big picture, higher time-valued items’. A method to create a successful outcome would be to track and record what the high valued items are, and at the same time begin to record what it is you are actually doing with your time each 30 minutes during each and every day.
Take up to thirty to sixty minutes and create two or three career New Year’s resolutions with the additional statements describing how to implement, measure and track each of them.
Mitch Tublin is a certified Personal and Executive Coach, he lives in Stamford, CT.
Comments