You know that lull between Christmas and New Year, when you don’t exactly know who you are, where you are, or what your name really is? Yes, that time after all the holiday shopping, eggnog drinking, and gift paper tearing…
You may be back in the office, staring blankly at your computer screen, wondering what your purpose in life really is. Or hitting the stores to return that ugly sweater your great-aunt gave you (again) this year (bless her heart)…
Whatever you may be doing during this awkward time between Christmas and the New Year, there’s always that weird sense that you’re stuck between old and new. Between deja vu and what’s to come…
But other than eating your fill of leftover desserts and contemplating your future fit self next year, there are a few things you can actually do for your career:
Reflect on your career wins and losses.
These few days are a great opportunity to put your reflecting cap on and just think for a minute about the career year you’ve just had. Yes, even if using your brain is the last thing you want to do right now…
What wins have you scored this year? How did your career advance? But also, what losses did you have to face? Where did you mess up this year?
Or just chunk it out…
Does thinking of your career wins and losses feel like sugar-free coffee right now? Then just skip the whole reality check episode, and break the year down.
Look at different areas of your life, whether it’s career, family, business, learning, etc, and evaluate them separately. End result: you avoid being overwhelmed, and get to have some perspective too!
Give yourself a pat on the back!
You’ve made it through the year at work, so celebrate your wins, however small they may be! You may have scored a promotion, or finished a project, or even been nominated for an award, so pop the cookie jar and acknowledge yourself for once…
Even if nothing special happened, you completed a whole year of assignments, meetings and traffic jams…Give yourself a high-five!
Skip the resolutions!
You know what’s most depressing about resolutions? It’s the whole process of making them, knowing you’ll be breaking them shortly…
So this year, do yourself a favor and skip the painful career resolutions….
Instead, set desires!
If you haven’t read Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map yet, you need to to get your own copy! In this brilliant book, she explains how aligning our life with our true desires is the key to feeling fulfilled…
And who doesn’t want to feel fulfilled, right? So grab a glass of bubbly and start jotting down those desires, and use them to direct your career decisions…
Do the doodle thing…
Did I mention ditching the to-do list already? Instead, grab the kids’ crayons and start doodling…
Draw, jot down thoughts, doodle, let your creativity spring up without trying to edit or make anything perfect. According to Jayne Morris, author of “Burnout to brilliance: Strategies for Sustainable Success“, this works particularly well as “your creative brain transcends your logical mind.”
Use this time to map out the next year using a mind map. Just draw a circle representing yourself in the middle, with lines coming out of the circle for each major area of your life (family, friends, work, etc). Add some keywords representing what you want for next year, and voila!
Breathe!
Whether you have time off from work or not, make sure to take some time for yourself. It could be simply scheduling a massage, or even spending some quiet time meditating.
Whatever you do, just set aside some time to get quiet and do a mini mental retreat.
How are you using the time between Christmas and New Year?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis.
