Professional New Years Resolutions

Setting professional goals for your career development over the next

© Joni Rose

Dec 27, 2006

Winter in British Columbia, Diana Forrester

Setting annual professional goals as part of your New Year's resolutions will help you advance towards long range career goals. Read on for tips on setting career goals.

It is that time of year again where we reflect on last year to see what strides we have made or haven’t made and plan our course for the coming year. In addition to any personal new years resolutions you make, create some resolutions for your career development. It is important to set annual goals or targets so that your career progresses along a path that will bring you to long range goals.

To start, it is best to set a long range career goal. Then, when you set annual resolutions, ask yourself “Will this goal further me along my path to achieve my long range career goal?”

The SMART Goal Setting process is a great tool to ensure that your goal statements have clarity. Action planning is the next step to ensure that your goals are achieved.

To determine what professional goals would be a best fit for you, try asking yourself these questions:

  1. What are my top 3 professional weaknesses? Is there training available to help me develop these weaknesses into strengths?
  2. Is there a task that I dread doing? Is there training available to help me build skills in this area to increase my motivation?
  3. Has my annual performance review identified an area that I need to develop? Can I get support from my company or organization (either financial or time off) in order to take classes?
  4. Are there certifications or other credentials that would help me to advance in my standing (financially or in role) in the company or organization?

Once you have established an area you want to develop, look at all the possible ways to develop your skill set including books, seminars and workshops, courses (classroom based and online) and tutoring from a mentor.

If you have comments or suggestions on this article, please start a discussion

If you liked this article, try:

Preparing for Career Resolutions

Assessing Professional Development

Copyright © 2006, Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.


The copyright of the article Professional New Years Resolutions in Soft Skills Development is owned by Joni Rose. Permission to republish Professional New Years Resolutions must be granted by the author in writing.




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