6 New Year Resolutions to make in 2016 that will help boost your career

This year, we bring you some work-related resolutions you should make that would help give your career that much needed boost and steer it in the right direction. It is important to reflect on the year gone by and take stock of the situation, so you can decide upon the changes you would like to make in order to achieve greater success and satisfaction in your professional life this new year.

Decide your career goals for the year in advance

It is important to know what you want from your career and plan your year accordingly. Think about what direction you want your career to progress in and how you will go about achieving it. Would you like to take on bigger responsibilities at your workplace? Are you happy with your current role in the organization? Would you prefer to change your line of work altogether? Do you feel you should ask for a raise? Are you ready to start your own business? These are some of the questions you should ask yourself and based on your preferences, chart out your short and long term goals for the next twelve months.

Learn a skill

Learning something new or developing a skill will go a long way in helping you advance in your career. Based on your strengths and weaknesses, and the amount of time available to you, try to develop a skill that you can later add to your resume, such as – learn a new language, enroll in a short term course, enhance your technical knowhow, develop an interesting hobby, brush up your general knowledge and read up on current events. Learning new skills will boost your confidence, add to your accomplishments, as well as give you a strong edge over your competitors.

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Adopt healthy habits

A fresh start to the year means adopting a healthy lifestyle that will increase your productivity at work and thereby help you march ahead in your career. Aim at eating proper nutritious meals and completing your work early so you can sleep on time. Bid goodbye to the unhealthy habits of eating junk food and staying up late at night, and instead focus on making exercise and sports a part of your daily routine. Lack of proper exercise and rest can result in lethargy and lack of concentration at work. Also, aim at keeping your emails and your workstation organized and clutter-free. Taking up meditation, practising yoga, spending time with pets are also some activities that can help you relax and de-stress and perform better in the office. Over and above, adopt a positive attitude in life.

Increase professional know how

An important resolution that you must make this year is to enhance your knowledge about things through reading. Attempt at grasping information and increasing your general as well technical knowledge by reading relevant books by renowned authors. Before you decide to invest in a book, visit websites that provide information on new releases and reviews of books such as Goodreads etc. Moreover it is not always necessary to buy a book, there are thousands of free e-books available on the internet that can be legally downloaded by readers, free of cost. Also, put your smartphones to good use by developing a habit of noting down useful information whenever possible, or browsing the internet for news and current affairs instead of using them to simply forward jokes to friends!

Work-life balance

Let 2016 be the year where you achieve a balance between your professional and personal lives by planning well ahead of the others. While it is important to accomplish your duties at work, it is equally important to spend time and unwind with family and loved ones. So, go through the list of holidays for the year and plan your vacations and leisure time in advance. This will leave you with ample time to apply for leave, make travel arrangements and prepare itineraries so you can take that much needed break from Excel sheets and meetings. A day at the beach with family or an evening out with friends can at times be more rewarding than a hefty paycheck.

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Improve your social media profile

This year, build on your social media presence by updating your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts with relevant information. Employers looking to hire you are likely to go through your social media profiles and it would be wise to tweak your profiles every now and then. If you have mentioned an interest in photography in your resume, aim at displaying your talent on Instagram, if you have a creative hobby, showcase your abilities by creating an interesting page on Pinterest. Having a sound social profile also helps in meeting new people, making new friends and widening your network, all of which can contribute towards achieving more success and productivity at work.