Are You Sticking with Your Career and Personal Resolutions?

Can you believe how far we are from New Year’s already? Are you still sticking to the career and personal resolutions you made when 2019 was still new and shiny?

You may not be. For 80 percent of people reading this post, you’ve fallen off track from your resolutions already. New resolutions are hard, because they require you to modify your behavior. They may require you to get out of your comfort zone. New traditions and practices might involve unfamiliar or uncomfortable behavior, and those habits take a long time to stick.

But resolutions have the power to change your life for the better as well. If you made a personal resolution, not sticking with it means you’re still in the same place a year from now. If you made a career resolution to find a better-paying job and break that resolution, you’ll be stuck in the same spot too.

So how do you make sure you keep resolutions? Here’s how.

1. Make a plan to meet your resolutions.

First, make a specific plan to meet your new resolution goals. For losing weight, that means eating less and exercising more. For a career, that may mean searching for a new job.

This all comes down to setting SMART goals – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound! Especially when it comes to job searching, keep the goals achievable – do you only have the time for one or two applications a week, or do you need to make the time for five or more applications per week in order to find a new opportunity quicker?

2. Monitor whether you’re on track.

About a month in, take stock of whether you’re on track with your resolutions. If you’ve eaten chocolate cake and pizza every day, you know you’re likely off track towards a weight-loss goal. If you haven’t made any job posting search or moved toward sending out applications, you’re off track on the job hunt.

Think about what caused you to go off track, if you are. Are your goals too difficult? Do you not have enough time to fulfill them. If so, tweak your goals until you have a doable plan. Set up short-term rewards for yourself too, but make sure those rewards are fun things that still contribute towards your goals.

3. Solidify your commitment to your resolutions.

As part of establishing new goals, recommit to your resolutions. Visualize how nice it will feel to be earning more in your new job in northern Nevada. Achievement of resolutions takes commitment to achieve. Visualize how proud you will feel when you do. Write down your goals and put pen to paper in order to create a vision of where you want to be when 2020 comes around.

Offer yourself a reward if you complete your goals. It could be a vacation, a new television to stream your program, or whatever works to motivate you.

Are you looking for a partner in the job search process to keep you on track and keep your goals top-of-mind? Contact The Applied Companies today or get right to work and apply now.