New Year's Career Resolutions: Worth Making -- And Keeping

Maybe your big goal is to be happier at work. What small steps can you take to help that become a reality? • Are you always feeling stressed and busy? Consider coming in early (before the boss and your colleagues) to get some work done before the day gets started. Your small-step goal can be to come in five or ten minutes early every day. That's almost an hour of extra time to get things done in a week! • Make an effort to find a new friend at work. Studies show that people enjoy their jobs more when they have some allies at work. If you don't have any friends, identify one or two likely candidates and invite them to lunch or coffee. • Adjust your own attitude. Convince yourself that being happier at work will be useful for you and stop dwelling on anything that's stressing you out. Your small step goal can be to make a point to smile more every day. What if what you really want is a new job? Instead of a potentially overwhelming resolution such as, "Get a new job," consider a series of smaller resolutions: • Spend 10 minutes a day building a new resume. Start out by listing your skills and accomplishments. By the end of the week, you'll be well on your way to a new resume! • Take 15 minutes a week researching people you know who can give you information you can use to make a change. • Write down one thing every day that can help you get a new job. (For example, a skill you enjoy discussing or a special accomplishment that you're proud to share.) When you take small steps every day instead of making an effort to accomplish something big in one swoop, it will be more difficult to give up on your goal. Let's face it, you know you can do one small thing every day or every week. Now, convince yourself that those baby steps can make a big difference and get started!