Two women were chit-chatting over coffee one afternoon in late December. One couldn’t stop talking about her New Year’s career resolutions, while the other patiently nodded. She had all these plans of introducing a new program in her department, exceeding her milestones and nabbing a promotion early. The other woman also had plans for her career the upcoming year, but presented them as such: plans whose completion were pending proper execution.

At the end of the following year, the woman with all the career resolutions ended up meeting only a few of her goals. On the other hand, her friend with the more pragmatic plans achieved most of them. Surprised?

Every year comes the time of making resolutions…Resolutions to hit the gym, wash your (potty) mouth with soap, button those pants…And of course, when it comes to your career, THE mother of all resolutions: that to shine in all your professional awesomeness and slay all those goals (the same you missed last year) and more…

So you start the year all pumped up, get to work on time (the first day of the year), pull out all your positive mantras, and get to work…Except everything else catches right back up to you, from the inpromptu executive meetings to the kids’ doctors’ appointments…And you get disappointed, mentally off-track, and the rest is history…

Career resolutions, like diets or bad relationships, are made to be broken. As a veteran of failed resolutions of all kinds, including refraining from hitting the snooze button or not wearing heels everywhere, I should know…

• Career resolutions turn your career into your rigid, severe Aunt Martha. Or Kathy, or Gertrude. They create walls around your work, and condition the direction of your entire career journey for an entire year. Even if they happen to be the most ambitious, outstanding resolutions promising to jumpstart your career into Extreme Success Zone. Remember, your career is a journey. One you can’t, or shouldn’t necessarily restrict to a set of expectations, however positive these may be.
• Career resolutions only provide the outcome, not the means. There’s something about a grand resolution that just makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside…at first. Then comes the inevitable time to execute. Turning the big, fancy words into action becomes a dragging, annoying task. Just like talking about the wedding and actually delving into the teeny-tiny details of the cutlery style and napkin color. Or declaring yourself debt-free and actually doing the work , skipping the daily latte and not splurging on new shoes for what seems like the rest of your life.
• Career resolutions create unnecessary pressure. So do resolutions of any kind. Which is exactly why they tend to fail, and why we tend to go back to the cream-filled canolis, the trashy reality shows and the bad boyfriends. And of course, the loftier the resolution, the more intense the pressure.

Instead of submitting to your year-end tradition of drawing yet again new career resolutions, how about going the less-traveled career route for once? Think bigger, wider and larger than just regular, restrictive, un-specific career resolutions:

1. Go the alternative route: After a while, all resolutions start sounding the same. Whether it’s to get more organized, impress the boss, or be more productive, the clichés abound. And you know what they say about following the crowd…How about ditching what everyone else and their mama is doing, and instead tread on the less-traveled path. Instead of vowing to do more of the same, how about committing to change what you’re currently doing to get different results than the ones you’ve been getting. There’s  a non-resolution to make…
2. Start with YOU: They were right when they said “the work will always be there” (never mind who “they” were)….This year, just start with YOU! Taking care of YOU, taking all your vacation time (yes, all $52.4B of it), and putting yourself first. This is not a resolution, just the realization that you are not indispensable, that you’re not just a number. And it’s also the only way you will find your own path to the kind of fulfilling, life-nurturing work you’ve always dreamt of…
3. Make peace with the whole work-life balance thing: Ok, there’s a non-resolution for you: do not resolve to be balanced in life or in business. Because it just doesn’t happen! Taking away from work doesn’t add to your life and vice-versa. What works on the other hand, is to let go and allow yourself to be fully alive. Enjoy new experiences, be open to new adventures, take some time to do nothing (what a revolutionary idea). And watch the simple fact of letting yourself be turn your career into an amazing success, for the sheer fact that for once, just for once, you’re actually bringing YOU, all of YOU, to work!

Here’s to a year filled with life…and not stale resolutions!

Are you ditching your career resolutions this year?

With Love,
The Corporate Sis.