Give yourself room to deserve better
To new beginnings! Here are some questions to help you think through on how to position yourself to be better and achieve more of your professional desires.
What’s your one career goal for this year? Make this as specific as possible so that its success is measurable. Be ambitious but don’t bite off more than you can chew. Make sure you get the help you need to make it happen.
What one new skill will you develop? Name this skill and have a reason why you are developing this. Also decide how you will go about developing it and how you will know you have gained this skill.
What will you stop tolerating? This is an important action to achieving something significant and on your terms. Good enough, sloppiness, mediocre thinking, toxic people, time wasters all lead to one thing- a mediocre you! Don’t do that to yourself.
What one bad habit or drainer will you drop? It takes courage to do this especially if you’ve had this habit forever or the drainer is a person. It comes down to choice. Carry on, take action and free yourself to be better and do better.
How will you expand your career? You can do this by using your strengths more and improving your time management so you can be involved in more things. Have a chat with a friend who can help you appreciate what you’re capable of and opportunities you might explore.
How will you increase your competence? Purposely put yourself in challenging situations. Try new things, seek more stretch assignments and look for opportunities to work in unfamiliar situations. Confront fears that limit possibilities. Reflect on what’s holding you back from doing something different.
Whose professional friendship must you cultivate?: This need not be a mentor or even your peer but anyone who helps you see new perspectives, challenges your thinking, helps you become better and explore.
What boundaries will you create and enforce?: Establish boundaries that can keep out unhealthy influences, stresses, negativity and people who always create conflict, complain or are hostile. Enforce boundaries that help maintain your sanity and be more accountable to your commitments.
How will you influence those who’ll be making decisions about you? You own your career but several people make decisions that impact it. Find out more about what influences their decisions and how best to ensure they access the right information about you.
Now take action: What one thing will you do put yourself out there more?
