2007 is around the corner. Time to think about 10 Things to make your New Year more productive, and positive.

1. Evaluate Your Position. Remember how you started your current job and the excitement you had on that first day/week/month? Is that excitement still there? Are you finding yourself watching the clock, counting the days to the weekend? Perhaps it’s time to evaluate and decide if you need to move on or…

2. Evaluate Your Commitment. Perhaps it’s not the company that’s the problem, perhaps it’s your commitment to the job. Are you giving everything you can, going the extra mile not just for the company, but for you? Someone once said if you’re only giving 90 percent you’re not giving your all.

3. Look at Your Life/Work Balance. Are you spending too much time at work – or are you bringing too much work home? How many times have you turned down a friend or loved one with the excuse of “I have too much work to do.” ? Take time to evaluate how your work/life balance was this past year. The reverse can be true as well. Have you overcommitted to outside activities and your work is suffering?

4. Make a List of Accomplishments for the Year – Personal and Professional. When someone says to me, “I haven’t done much,” I always suggest that they write down what they have done and see if they still feel that way. You’d be surprised how much you’ve accomplished day-to-day without realizing it. As a matter of fact, make two lists. Personal and Professional. Is one much longer than the other? See #3, above.

5. Make A List of Goals for the New Year Ahead. These are not “resolutions.” Far from it. These are solid, reachable, doable goals you want to accomplish. If you’re so inclined make a second, more ambitions list of dream goals. In all cases, swing for the fences. The doubles will add up to runs just as quickly.

6. Connect with New People. I don’t advise just hopping on line or going to the local bar and trying to meet someone. I mean really connecting with people that can be influential in your life or vice-versa. While I’m on this subject, if you don’t have a mentor in your profession, find one. And don’t feel intimidated to ask. Most seasoned professionals would be flattered if you did.

7. Reconnect with Someone. Call a friend you haven’t talked to in a while. Email a colleague you’ve lost touch with and catch up on their lives. There was a reason you connected in the first place, rediscover that reason.

8. Turn off and Turn It Up. On the net? Watching TV? Turn them off for a while. Get out and experience the “unplugged” side of life. My wife and I spent over 3 hours in Starbucks recently just talking! I’d trade TV and the net for that any day!

9. Learn Something New. Read. Take a course (on ANY subject). Go to plays, seminars, concerts. The point is to learn something new. And on the professional side, if you aren’t subscribing to at least one or two newsweeklies, you’re missing the boat. READ them, don’t take the newsfeed way out. All of this will come in handy professionally and in your social life. Those who live in the mundane and familiar are bound to be mundane and familiar.

10. Share What You Know with Someone Else. One of the best ways I give back is to teach. I love the opportunity to share what I know with others, and bring my experience and knowledge to their situations. Don’t think you know enough? See #4 or start a separate list on the things you do know!

**Bonus** Give Back. Give of Yourself. Above all else, find a way to give back. To your community, to your parents, to your friends, to someone in need you don’t even know. I work for a 40-person company. We encourage our employees to give back at least one work day to the community. That’s 8 hours of time a year. Doesn’t sound like much? Think of it this way. Our company gives 320 hours. If 100 companies in our area did that, then 3200 hours would be given back to the community.

If you get through this list and think it’s slightly ambitious, good! A friend of mine scolded me recently because I was hesitant to attend a seminar. “Successful people will always be busy,” he said. “Really successful people find time to better themselves.” Find the time for yourself this year. It will be well worth the effort.

Until next time, say thank you to someone who wasn’t expecting to be thanked…

Technorati Tags: career advice, career insight, Forward 10, 10 things

Share This: Email or bookmark the post