It’s the end of the year, which means most of us are focused on getting out of the office -- and getting into our comfiest pajamas to celebrate the holidays with family and friends.
But before you turn off your office lights and drive home to the tune of Bing Crosby’s ‘Happy Holidays’ (I can hear him crooning now...), here are 3 questions I recommend asking yourself to make sure you close out the year strong and set yourself up to hit the ground running next year.
1. “Who should you thank?”
Who went above and beyond this year to make your organization, your community, or your life better? Use this as a chance to implement the best networking trick we know of, simply saying thanks.
2. “What did you accomplish?”
Have you ever gone to update your resume, only to realize you can't really remember what you did in jobs past?
My clients struggle with this constantly, searching for old job descriptions and barely capturing the greatness and results they were responsible for. Save yourself the heartache by taking time this week to jot down your year’s biggest accomplishments (and if you’re feeling frisky, pop them right into your resume and LinkedIn profile.)
And, the greater benefit of this exercise is that it forces you to reflect on and celebrate the impact you made this year.
Too often, right after we achieve one goal, we’re hastily chasing the next, forgetting to pause and enjoy the view.
3. “What do you want to accomplish next?”
Tremendous benefit can also be gained by pausing to ask ourselves what all these accomplishments add up to; there is no better time than the turn of the year to ask yourself what you want to achieve long-term in your career, and what next steps or decisions you could make to get there.
- What are your values? And is your current job allowing you to live those values?
- What are you learning? Are you developing yourself in line with your passions?
- What comes next? What is that dream job, and what will you do to land it?
Just set aside 30 minutes
As human beings, we’re capable of making big changes anytime. Yet it’s remarkable to me how much power the end of the year holds.
There’s this brief end-of-year window in which we give ourselves permission to make big decisions and changes that positively affect our lives and the lives of others.
So take advantage of this precious opportunity to be grateful, celebrate, and dream just a little bigger than you might at any other moment.