Every year I do the same thing...I tell myself that THIS YEAR'S resolutions will actually stick! It's always the same thing: exercise more, lose weight, stop eating junk, yada, yada, yada. And, every year, the same thing happens: I exercise for about a month before it tapers off, my weight stays the same (or I pick up a few pounds), and chocolate becomes a dietary staple before January 18th.
I also set professional goals for myself each year. Some I achieve, some I miss. When reflecting on the past year, it can get frustrating to itemize the goals I didn't meet for myself. How can I be more proactive in hitting my professional goals? An article in
Psychology Today gave three strategies to helping us achieve our goals. First, connect your goal to your core values. Interestingly, the article stated that persons who connect their desired behavior to abstract terms (rather than specific terms) actually do better at avoiding temptation in order to achieve the broader goal. Second, anticipate situations that will test your ability to commit to your goal. If you can anticipate the situation and then make a plan for how to avoid the temptation to steer away from your goal, you're more likely to avoid that temptation when the situation actually happens. Third, focus on the progress you've made, not on how far you have to go to reach your goal. By focusing on the small victories, achieving the goal seems much more plausible.
Passing a new credentialing examination, becoming more active in my state society, joining the management team at work, working with chronic disease patients in your community, mentoring a new employee, writing a research paper, helping a loved one quit smoking...our professional goals reflect our vision of how we want to contribute to our profession, our places of employment, our societies, and our families. So whether you set resolutions for yourself each new year or not, I hope that you have a professional goal (or more!) in mind for 2014 and that you achieve that goal.
Happy New Year!