3 Ways to Get Your Career Off to a Great Start This Year

3 Ways to Get Your Career Off to a Great Start This Year How has the New Year started out for you? I’m asking because I’ve always found this to be an exciting time of year. One where each of us can make a fresh start. Where a whole new world lies ahead and there’s everything to play for. Like untouched snow or turning to a fresh page in my journal. My year is starting out with excitement about a project my team and I have been working on for months which we’re about to announce â€" more on that later! But back to the start of your year… Whether you’re off to a roaring start, feeling underwhelmed, or something in between, this is a natural time to do some thinking and planning for the year ahead. And as my father says, “chance favors the prepared mind.” While having a strategy in place is important for achieving big goals, it can feel daunting to do that preparation. It’s tempting to put it off until “later” or to ditch the idea altogether in favor of “winging it”. Both are suboptimal if you want to have a great year. Since I want you to have an awesome year, I’d like to share with you some super simple ways to set yourself up for success without spending lots of time or spinning your wheels. Here are three things you can do right now to get your career off to a great start in the new year. And you’re not alone. I’m putting these to use as well. 1. Choose Your Theme for the Year This can be an overarching theme that will sustain you through the year, like a touchstone. For example, it could be “the year of the promotion” or “the year of getting your degree.” Or it could be “the year of living dangerously,” which is the name of a movie. You can also choose a set of words or phrases that really embody the theme you want to live out for the year, such as “let’s make everything simple, easy and fun this year. In my case, I'm going to choose staying focused as my theme. One of the big lessons I learned this past year was the need to get and stay focused. I think it's going to be a big challenge, but I can't wait to tackle it. 2. Identify the Three Big Wins You Want to Have This Year The second thing to think about are your wins. In fact, I want you to pre-determine and pre-select the three big wins that you want to have this year. They can be any three things. It could be a combination of landing three new clients, passing an exam you need to pass in order to get to the next level of your career (e.g., the CFA or CPA exams), and maybe the third one is getting over your fear of speaking by giving a big talk. In my case, my three big wins that I’m pre-determining for this year are: (1 & 2) nailing the two big projects that my team and I have been working on for the last six months, and then (3) developing a platform that's going to allow us to serve even more people with greater value. So, think about what your three big wins are going to be. It's a more energizing way of asking yourself, what are my three big goals for the year? Ask yourself, “What are my three big wins going to be this year?” It's a more energizing way of asking, what are my three big goals for the year? 3. Decide What Investment You’re Going to Make in Yourself Think about how you’re going to invest in yourself this year. Think about which exact things you're going to spend your time, energy, mind-space and money on this year to build your foundation and make you even better in new dimensions. For me, I’m going to reinvest in the mastermind groups that I'm part of. Initially I wasn't sure I was going to re-up my investment, but now I realize these are foundational to my current success and my future success. What are your investments going to be? 4. Bonus Thing to Get Your Career off to a Great Start This Year There's a special fourth thing that I'm going to make available to you very soon to help you further in getting your career off to a great start. It's my annual online Career Masteryâ„¢ Kickstart Summit. It will be 10 days of 50 incredible experts from around the world sharing their latest insights and advice on how to be more successful in your career. I'm so excited for you and how it will really move the needle for you. This is all about you and your career, so I can't wait to share it with you. I encourage you to sign up and bring a friend. Registration for the Summit is free â€" sign up now and save your spot Set Yourself Up for Your Best Year Ever In summary, to get your career off to a great start this year: Pick your theme for the year Identify your three big wins Decide what investment you're going to make in yourself Sign up to the Career Masteryâ„¢ Kickstart 2019 online Summit. So, what are you going to choose as your theme for this year? Leave a comment and let me know.