The Secret To Career Resolutions

It is 2005 this weekend. It doesn't seem that long ago that a majority of the world was wondering about what would happen when the year 2000 arrived. We all survived and the Y2K consultants are now all "blogging" on to the next opportunity..The end of the year is a natural time to reflect and think about the challenges and the opportunities that you have gone through this past year. According to psychologist John Norcross 40% of adults have New resolutions. The three most popular are:

1. Loose weight
2. Quit smoking
3. Increase exercise

Here are some other interesting stats:

1. 75% are faithful for one week
2. 55% one month
3. 40% 6 months
4. 20% two years later

Goal setting and then perservering to achieve those goals can be a diffcult task. My experience has shown with goal setting in general and career related changes, is that you have to want the change. You need a particular benefit to the choices that you make. The goal has to be beyond yourself in many cases for it to stick. You need to identify support systems that will help you preserver and maintain some level of accountability.

If you are serious about your New Year's resolutions try the following sets to make sure that you can be one of the rare few that stick to them and make their goals a reality:

1. Write each one down. More importantly, write down the WHY. Have a plan. Be specific and descriptive but long enough that you won't lose focus. I think this is a majority of reason why goal setting often doesn't work. You need a "WHY". Goals are empty without the "WHY".

2. Tell the RIGHT people..By sharing your goal with the right people you can get support and accountability. Some of us need to put our stubbornness and pride aside and make sure that we have people helping us stay on track.

3. Make sure to CELEBRATE the little successes along the way...I know a person who bought a CD every time he went for a run. This may be a little expensive but it is what worked for him.

If you follow the above advice, achieving your New Year's resolutions should be a little easier this year. Remember not to be too hard on yourself. Maybe that should be your first resolution