by Tara E. l January 1, 2024
New Year’s resolutions get a bad rap. Let’s face it: the ability to commit to anything that potentially will not yield immediate results or requires us to form a long-term habit can be intimidating after merely a few days or weeks of trying. Even when the smallest results emerge, the quality or quantity of those outcomes may not be enough to entice us to commit to a new resolution. Workplace resolutions are no different and their sustainability may be in greater jeopardy due to our limited span of control of external forces. Keeping all of that in mind, a fear of not successfully achieving 100% of a workplace resolution should not be a deterrent to creating them.
What are Workplace Resolutions?
Workplace resolutions are new goals, activities, or changes one can make to their work life to increase their development, reach new goals, and become more successful. Many people choose to set these goals at the top of the year. Why not? The new year ushers in a proverbial sense of new beginnings, motivation, inspiration, and the desire to make tangible changes in our lives. Making workplace resolutions enables you to focus on those things that might enhance your likelihood of success. Whether you execute them in the manner you set out to achieve, you should think of these resolutions as the runway lights to the airplane you are trying to land in the dark.
Examples of workplace resolutions might include learning new skills, practicing better organization techniques, setting up a collaborative and constructive network for colleague feedback, or finding new ways to be productive during the day. When we focus our New Year’s resolutions on the workplace, we can see tangible results throughout the year and measure our successes with new habits and activities.
Why Should You Create a List of Workplace Resolutions?
I have been dancing around the ‘why’ so far, but let’s turn the music up and get into it.
So, you probably think those mandatory workplace goals your organization, supervisor, or manager sets are adequate. Not so fast. Don’t get lazy about this process. I would argue that you should challenge your thinking on that front. Organizational goals are just that. They are typically goals designed to help the organization achieve some benchmark or predetermined metric that impacts its bottom line. It’s not about you. Sure, the Human Resources team will likely package it as a wonderful way to help you be successful and even throw in a few individual contributor goals that enable you to integrate your personal goals into the mix for tracking.
However, you should not allow yourself the false sense of thinking your personal goals are necessarily critical to the company’s success or that they will prioritize your goals over those of the organization. Sure, they want to keep you on board because no company wants to endure the pains of attrition or loss of talent. In recent years, companies have baked in strategies that lead employees to believe their desires are important to the organization, and they are willing to jump through a few hoops to keep them happy. In some respects, that is true. They are very interested in keeping you happy.
Nonetheless, keeping you happy is more about retaining staff or creating internal talent than building you up. Always remember that you are the CEO of your brand, your future, and your career. Creating a list of New Year’s workplace resolutions can help you focus on new activities that will lead to more personal success. It can also help us to develop new skills, create new habits, and become more productive in our jobs. Furthermore, New Year’s resolutions have a way of inadvertently bringing us closer to our colleagues to tackle difficult tasks that we may have been avoiding or procrastinating on for a number of weeks or months.
How Can You Keep Your Workplace Resolutions?
The hardest part about setting workplace resolutions is keeping them. I acknowledge that fact. It is easy to start developing new goals and set ambitious action plans for ourselves when drafting workplace resolutions. You probably know the feeling. The sky is the limit. You can leap mountains in a single bound –right? However, it’s a lot harder actually to sustain and achieve resolutions. Organizations are known to veer off their own plans and strategies, distracting us from our goals with their inevitable dysfunctional behaviors.
Tips to Keep Those Resolutions Alive!
Here are some tips for making sure your New Year’s resolutions stay alive throughout the year:
1. Start small and set realistic goals that can be easily achieved.
2. Reflect on progress so far and adjust as necessary. I recommend you do this weekly -yes, weekly!
3. Consider setting up an accountability system with colleagues, friends, or family.
4. Celebrate small wins along the way to stay motivated. Periodically perform that lookback we discussed in step two, where you reflect on progress. Doing so can help you better identify progress and where you are winning.
5. Reward yourself for sticking to new habits or activities you set out to do.
6. Find new ways to get inspired and encourage yourself during tough times. You must look for those things that inspire you to keep going and attain workplace resolutions. For me, it’s the lookback. Even where hiccups exist (e.g., mistakes have been made), there is progress. I also look at what others have achieved. While I do not like to compare myself to others, I like to tell myself that if they do it, the end goal is still achievable. I am just as smart as they are, if not smarter.
7. Don’t forget to breathe. Take some time off from work and plan new activities to motivate you to achieve your workplace resolutions.
It’s important to remember that the workplace and New Year’s resolutions are just one piece of the puzzle regarding making positive changes. Taking small steps towards a new goal and building on them will help sustain motivation throughout the new year. Remember to stay focused, stay committed, and keep pushing yourself to new heights in 2023!
