I know it’s already 6 January, but Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are now ready to get back into work, whether that be in a job or still in education. The beginning of a new year is always typified by resolutions, planning and new beginnings and, as someone who is organisation mad, it can be really nice to think about what the next year (and, in this case, decade) may hold.
My goals for this year and how I plan to achieve them are split into four categories – building experience, building references, building skills and building network. I then have created and utilised a few ways to write down what I want to do and my progress on them with timeframes. When doing this, it is also good to look back on the last year or decade and see how far you have come whether that be professionally, academically or/and personally.
Build Experience
‘’If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.’ Albert Einstein’ (quoted by Mary Portas in Work Like A Woman, 2018, p143)
To do this, I need to keep persisting with job hunting by applying for advertised and non-advertised roles. When I’ve applied for roles in the past, I’ve been putting all my eggs in one basket by taking way too much time and effort over my application and really wanting to get that one role. In other words, I’ve been pulled into the glamour and shine and given my whole attention to that when I should be keeping my options open and looking at various opportunities all at once rather than one thing at a time.
I also want to keep writing blogs for this portfolio and also keep the whole website regularly updated. To keep doing this, I’m thinking of creating a blog post and social media content calendar but I’m not sure yet about how I would keep that updated since I currently have a long list of topics and not sure how to break them down time-wise yet.
Build References
‘[...] what feels right at the present time, while keeping an open mind about longer-term horizons.’ (Mishal Hussain in The Skills, 2018, p.235)
To do this, I need to be a proactive employee in the jobs I currently am employed by doing my work REALLY well and, if I say that I’m doing something, then DO what I have said or tell people that I cannot. Basically, I want to professionally communicate in better, practical and quicker ways. When I have more experience, I would like to begin to both ask for and write for others online testimonials. However, for now, I just want to be a better working me but I know that the future holds so much more.
Build Skills
‘[...] we are going to have to learn new skills to survive in this reimagined world. We must begin by knowing ourselves.’ (Richard N. Bolles, What Color is Your Parachute?, 2019, p.7)
To do this, I need to read more books, articles and blogs, listen to more podcasts, do more online courses and just learn new things day by day! Once I finish the Google Digital Garage Digital Marketing course (it’s taken me FOREVER but nearly there), I’m hoping to start a HubSpot course but not sure which one yet. I also plan to log all the courses that I complete both on my LinkedIn profile, my CV and my WIX portfolio under the heading of ‘self-directed learning’. I also want to start an email marketing list and a Facebook page for my blog.
Build Network
‘We have such a biological need for social support, our bodies can literally malfunction without it.’ (Shaun Achor, The Happiness Advantage, 2011, p.177)
To do this, I need to keep building my professional and social networks both online and in the real world. I want to keep going to business/industry/networking events, ask people I already know who they know, keep having meetings and informational interviews and start using my own business cards. I also plan to keep using social media, especially LinkedIn and Twitter, to both further build and keep in contact with my networks. I know that this is a two way thing – I can always ask for help, but it is also about how I can help others.
Ways I Plan and Measure
‘Productivity is not about getting more things done, it’s about getting the right things done.’ (Michael Hyatt, quoted by Anna Runyan on her Classy Career Girl podcast)
I have a few different processes that I have used in the past year and will be using again this year to both plan and measure my goals. The first is a structured learning programme, a document that details my main career objective, the skills I already have and the skills or actions in which I want to pick up or develop.
I also use lined A4 notebooks to write down important meeting minutes, interesting things I’ve learnt from books or podcasts and weekly to-do lists. However, I was forever losing the page that I needed at a specific time – someone then introduced me to numbering each page and keeping a contents or index page in notebooks. This links to bullet journaling, something I’d like to get into but not sure if I have the artistic flair for it!
I then measure the results of my goals and what I want to do with timesheets that I create using excel spreadsheets. I do this by noting the date, the time scale I did it in and how many hours/minutes that time adds up to. I do this under a collection of headed topics and add up the totals of everything monthly.
What I’d Like to Start Using
Whilst the above three are helpful and will be kept being used, I would also like to start using some mobile applications and online tips to keep me on track. I’ve very recently downloaded the Focus app and the Hootsuite app but have not yet gotten around to using either of them! I also came across a list of 20 career questions created by Helen and Sarah of Amazing If – you can find the questions here.
Let me know if there are any other mobile apps or resources I could perhaps use to reach my goals! Hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post – what are your goals for the new year?
Beth x