5 Ways to Prepare Your Career for the New Year (Decade)

As we draw the year to a close many of us are looking forward to some well-deserved time off to relax, eating some good food, seeing a movie or two, and spending time with family.

But the holiday break also affords us an opportunity to spend some time thinking about our job and career and what actions we might take to enjoy our work more and become more successful in our career over the coming year.

Here are five things you might do over the holiday break to prepare for the new year and to set yourself up for success in the coming decade.

Sign up for a class. There are so many opportunities to enhance your skills and deepen your knowledge in areas that can positively impact your career, from online courses and webinars to conferences and classes at a community college. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to find an impactful class, but you need to start somewhere.

Seek out a mentor. Take a few moments to identify someone you’ve been wanting to learn from. You likely already have this person in your circle of contacts but, perhaps, you haven’t let them know you wanted a more formal mentorship. Now is a good time to ask.

Add a good habit. You know you need to eat better, sleep more, and get some physical exercise in but it can be overwhelming to consider everything you could change in your life so make a plan to make one change. Maybe it’s a simply as avoiding a drink tonight or going to sleep at a reasonable time. Start with one day and then make it two days and then three. That is how we change to begin to make good decisions. These decisions will lead to better decisions and impact your life and career for the better.

Consider your thoughts. We are what we think about and it’s important in every area of our lives, and in our career, to think thoughts that move us forward, rather than negative thoughts that bring us and others around us down. Avoid thoughts that blame others or dwell on past failures or mistakes. Add a practice of meditation, yoga, or prayer to your life to slow down and allow you to more effectively evaluate your self-talk.

Schedule a vacation. Yes, though you might enjoy a break over the holidays take some time to plan your next vacation before you dive back into the stress of your working life. Having a vacation planned will also give you sometime to look forward to and you’ll know that there is a reward coming for all the hard work you do.

Do even some of these things over the holidays and you’ll be set up for a more successful new year at work.  

Add These 5 Habits for Lifelong Career Success

It’s never too late (or too early) in your career to instill good habits into your work routine, and there are some basic habits for success that apply to any job or work environment you might encounter in your career.

Here are five habits to will help you build a track record of success in your life and career.

Focused, hard work. If you don’t have a practice of working hard, you’ll have a difficult time finding career success. Hard work should be the cornerstone of your work habits and should, obviously, be a given. But you can also work hard on the wrong things and it’s important to develop the ability to focus on a single task rather than allowing the distraction of multitasking.

Continuous learning. Regardless of the position you’re in, there is always room to learn more and to expand your knowledge, deepen your skill set, and expand your tool kit of expertise. This requires an attitude of humility and a commitment to seek out opportunities to learn more about your job and industry.

Positive approach. Taking a positive approach to your life by developing a habit of positive thinking and seeking out the best in others and every situation will enable you to create more success in your life and career. Others will want to work with you, and you’ll instill a sense of trust in your relationships that will build an effective and lasting network.

Seek out mentors. Successful people realize that they can not do it alone and they seek out mentors and others who they can learn from and who can be a support system along the way. Strong and successful individuals have a strong system of support, starting with a mentor who has their best interests at heart and isn’t afraid to be honest.

Attention to purpose. Lifelong career success comes from developing a clear sense of your purpose and seeking out work opportunities that fulfill that purpose. Successful people are not driven by the accumulation of wealth but seek to serve others through their skills, interests, and knowledge, and want to make a difference in the world.

Work to cultivate these habits in your work and life and you’ll be closer to having the successful career you want.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Harnessing Positive Thinking to Grow Your Career and Business

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• Harnessing Positive Thinking to Grow Your Career and Business: "If you allow yourself to dwell on the negative, habitual skepticism will run your life and influence your decisions. It’s hard, if not impossible, to build success when you’ve resigned yourself to negativity."

• How to Have a More Energized and Productive Meeting: "icebreakers and other getting-to-know-you activities promote better collaboration. These exercises raise the energy level and give people a chance to get to know one another."

• 10 Best Practices for Managing Your Email: "Emails are clearly a major part of our personal and professional lives today, and yet many people spend as much as one or two hours a day managing them."

• Motherhood Inspired These Entrepreneurs to Start Companies With a Mission: "Palmer encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to identify a problem that needs to be solved and create a solution that your audience will love."
• 9 Ways to Build Wealth Fast:"Don't think that you have to do everything. Instead, focus on a few things and do them well. It all starts by investing in yourself."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Get an Amazing Job with Limited Experience

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to Get an Amazing Job Without Much Experience: "Admit your shortcomings but show that you’re willing to work harder to make up for it. With this mindset, you’ll find  jobs that will give you an opportunity to work your way up."

• 10 Things Successful, Happy People Do Differently: "most successful (entrepreneurs) tended to have two critical things in common: They were terrible at imagining failure, and they tended not to care what other people thought of them."

• 9 Behaviors That Instantly Identify Bad Employees: "Keep an eye out for colleagues that spend way more face time with their managers than usual. The wheels of favoritism may be in motion."

• Self-Care is a Discipline, Not an Indulgence: " It takes discipline to do the things that are good for us instead of what feels good in the moment."
• How to Train Your Brain to Go Positive Instead of Negative:"We have inherited the brain that helped our ancestors notice threats in time to act. We are skilled at finding threats, even as we seek rewards."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: The Power of Positive Thinking

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• The Power of Positive Thinking: "I have been able to accomplish some amazing things because every Sunday I write down the goals that I want to accomplish in every aspect of my life. I map out my vision and accomplishments for the week and I break it into days."

• 10 Reasons to Hire Someone Without a College Degree: "Some people learn best in school, and other people don't. They learn by doing. You will miss out on a huge talent population if you screen out brilliant, capable and hard-working people for whom the classroom is not a good learning environment."

• How to Make a Great First Impression in 3 Minutes: "asking a question about a recent meeting, or commenting on a successful project, signals to your boss that you are not only focused on work, but committed to growing in your role, as well."

• 7 Things to Consider Before Relocating for a Job: "make sure you’ve considered all possible problems and opportunities that could arise. Think about things like the cost of living in the new city and what you’ll deal with on a daily basis on the roads."
• 7 Tricky Work Situations and How to Respond to Them: "there are certain phrases you can keep in your back pocket when these moments come. Route your response with them, and redirect the situation to regain control."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How Positivity Makes You Healthy and Successful

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How Positivity Makes You Healthy and Successful: "Pessimism is trouble because it’s bad for your health. Numerous studies have shown that optimists are physically and psychologically healthier than pessimists."

• Stop Reading Lists of Things Successful People Do: "Most of the advice these lists contain is based on subjective interpretations of personal accounts, not on systematic, scientific analyses."

• How to Know if a Potential Workplace is the One for You: "The most effective businesses know who they are and use their values as a yardstick in making decisions from who they hire, to who they want to partner with, to what kind of culture they want."

• The Best-Paying Jobs for Women in 2017: "Several health care positions made a showing on the list. For women, nurse practitioners were the third-highest earners."
• 4 Actions You Can Take Right Now to Improve Your Prospects in Life and Business: "Look up new activities that you can try in your area for a small amount of money. This could be a free concert, free class or just a cheap movie. Participate in different activities so you can find out what you might love."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: The Mindset You Need to Thrive in the Future of Work

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• The Mindset You Need to Thrive in the Future of Work: "To stay competitive, we need to get comfortable making difficult, complicated, higher-order decisions more regularly."

• 6 Ways to Rebound from Interview Rejection: "Don’t project thoughts, opinions or impressions onto the employer that they may not even have. Ironically, employment rejection is usually not about you! Accept that a rational business reason was likely the basis for your rejection, as hard as this may be."

• How Incredibly Successful People Think: "unsuccessful people, when they have a big dream and start thinking about what’s going to be required to accomplish that dream, they get very limiting in their beliefs about themselves and what’s possible."

• Why Do Employees Stay? A Clear Career Path and Good Pay: "workers who don’t see a clear progression from their current role to a better position in their company ultimately turn to opportunities elsewhere."
• 4 Habits of Highly Profitable Entrepreneurs: "the most effective entrepreneurs have a method of allocating their time effectively. One strategy is to plan your time in advance by using the bucket system."

5 Ways to Overcome Fear, Doubts, and Uncertainty in Your Career

Fear is often one of the strongest emotions we experience when it comes to taking on new challenges and tasks in a career. Sometimes we allow doubt to creep into our minds and we tell ourselves that we have no business expecting success and we feel like a fraud when we get that promotion.

This is common to many people and there are ways to deal with these thoughts and feelings.

Try these five ways to overcome fear, doubt, and uncertainty in your career:

1. Meditate. Take 5 to 10 minutes when you start your day to practice meditation. This calming practice will help set your fears and anxieties to rest and also allow you to fill your mind with some positive words if you add a simple phrase to meditate on, such as "I am grateful for each new opportunity."

2. Identify strengths and successes. Write down three of your strengths, along with three significant successes you've had in your life. Post this somewhere you can view it several times throughout the day. Drawing attention to your strengths and successes will help remind you that you are capable and have the skills necessary to be a success.

3. Practice positive self-talk. Learn to identify when you are telling yourself negative thoughts or are filled with fear and doubt. Take a moment to breath carefully and replace your thoughts with something true and inspiring. This is where identifying your strengths and successes can come in handy. Replace your doubts by reminding yourself of the ways you excel.

4. Surround yourself with positive and encouraging people. The people in our lives play an important role in our mood and how we think of ourselves. Make an effort to associate with people who inspire and encourage you to be the best version of you.

5. Seek out a mentor. When taking on new challenges and opportunities it can feel overwhelming and so it is important and beneficial to have an experienced person who can serve as a sounding board and provide counsel and advice while you grow in your work.

Try to implement these five strategies at any time in your life and career and you'll likely decrease the hold that fear, doubts, and uncertainty has over you.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 3 Strategies to Succeed in a New Leadership Position

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 3 Strategies to Succeed in a New Leadership Position: "Show humility, be gracious and accept suggestions from your fellow leaders. You will win the respect of your team and it will be easier for them to follow your lead."

• 5 Ways to Create and Maintain an Abundance Mindset: "Instead of focusing on what you lack, focus on what you do have. You’ll feel more abundant, and you’ll appreciate the good - and even the bad -- just a little bit more."

• 6 Career Actions You Should Take But Probably Don't: "Don’t just assume the work you’re doing is good enough or valued or relevant to the current priorities. Ask for feedback."

• Think Slow and Other Tricks for Better Problem-Solving: "the rote recall of information—or the obligatory regurgitation of possible solutions at top speed—takes place somewhere outside the analytical mind, constituting a reaction less intellectual, more glandular in nature."
• The Follow-Up Email Every Job Seeker Needs to Know How to Write: "Use the opportunity not just to follow up, but to show once again why you’re the best candidate for the job."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Take Down Imposter Syndrome

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

A few weeks ago we shared a video on The Imposter Syndrome. Today, the short video below from Forbes encourages you to take down Imposter Syndrome and get rid of those voices in your head telling you that you're not good enough or smart enough to succeed.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to (Positively) Think Your Way to Success

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to (Positively) Think Your Way to Success: "They’re always there and they always have an effect on you. But thoughts can be appraised in a very simple way: Do they strengthen you or weaken you?"
• 6 Ways to Stay Productive After 3:00 PM: "Go for a walk, either outside or just around your office. You’ll be in a better mood when you return to the task at hand, and you'll be better equipped to actually tackle it."
• 9 Questions to Ask Yourself in Order to Move Past Challenges With Grace: "Deciding what I’m committed to and how I plan to make that commitment happen is my top focus as I enter a challenging situation."
• How to Succeed at Work When Your Boss Doesn't Respect You: "Work closely with a mentor. In my interviews, I have also found that a close relationship with a mentor is closely correlated with thriving."
• 5 Lessons from Angelina Jolie on How to Make a Career Change: "Follow her playbook and be confident in your potential to reinvent your career. Yes, it's possible! Here's how."

3 Things a Good Mentor Will Do For You

A mentor can help you at any stage in your career but not all mentors are created equal. You don't want a mentor that simply listens to you complain about your job, or your supervisor, or the dream job that got away. You could, after all, simply see a counselor if you just want someone to listen to you talk.

An effective and useful mentor will do the following:

1. Make you uncomfortable. Your mentor will inspire and challenge you to move outside of your comfort zone and do something you might find difficult, such as accept that public speaking request or taking on that assignment you feel unqualified for. A good mentor knows that doing the thing you fear will produce incredible growth in you as a person and will bring great benefits to your career.

2. Challenge you to act. An insightful mentor will allow you to share the things that are bothering you or frustrating you about your work and career. However, your mentor will move you to take some course of action rather than being immobilized by fear or anxiety. Simply taking one step can go a long way toward becoming unstuck in a difficult situation.

3. Encourage you to think differently. Not only will your mentor encourage you to step outside your comfort zone and do something, he or she will also help you disrupt unhelpful or harmful ways of thinking and challenge you to consider things from a new perspective.

A mentor who can help you challenge you in the above three ways is definitely one worth keeping, or seeking out.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How Successful People Think

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below, Brendon Burchard talks about the thoughts and thinking processes that lead to success.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Things to Do When Starting a New Job

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 5 Things to Do When Starting a New Job: "If there's a project or task no one wants to tackle, volunteer to do it and give it all you've got.... Early in your job and career, there are very few jobs that are below you. Remember: Everyone has to start somewhere."


• 5 Realistic Tips to Be More Positive: "Over time, accentuating the positive becomes a habit, not just an overly sunny expression. You will be able to easily identify when you feel the strongest and most effective."


• How to Job Hunt While You're Working: "A stealth job search takes time and energy. What’s the point of that time and energy investment unless you’re going to a better place?"


• How to Become the Smartest Person in the Room: "Take in what’s around you, and listen to what people have to say. That’s going to give you both the information and insight necessary to put it in context."


• 7 Ways to Increase Your Charisma: "Confidence is a huge component of charisma. People will admire you for your confidence, usually because most people struggle with being confident themselves."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 8 Habits of Curious People

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 4 Ways to Create Your Next Career Opportunity: "Notice colleagues' complaints to see if they are things that could be fixed with a new job. Keep a log of your ideas, and review them to decide which one would be best to pursue."


• Getting Unstuck and Thinking Creatively: "The goal is to help you see the difference between facts and beliefs, to reframe the impossible as the possible, and to see problems as opportunities."


• 8 Habits of Curious People: "Curious people welcome surprise in their lives. They try new foods, talk to a stranger, or ask a question they've never asked before."


• 7 Excuses that Prevent Success: "So many people in life get hung up on excuses -- feeling they can't go out for the better job, start their own business, or take whatever risk because of... whatever it might be."


• What Positive People Know: "Positive people instinctively know that adversity is necessary in order for them to grow. We are here on Earth to experience, learn, grow and become the person we are meant to become."

Tips for Staying Positive During the Job Search

It can be difficult to remain positive and upbeat when you're unemployed and looking for a job. 

The holidays can make it even more difficult as some employers will wait until the new year to fill positions or the end of the year causes you to reflect on your current situation or circumstances.

Your attitude is important during the job search and so we recommend taking some time to check out this article offering 5 Tips for Jobseekers to Stay Positive. 

As the article notes, it's important to provide yourself with the right messages, such as I am qualified: "Cultivate your trust in your abilities and focus on what you can do."

How do you stay upbeat and positive while looking for a job?

The Power of Positive Thinking: 5 Negative Words to Remove from your Vocabulary

Think positive! You are what you think! You have probably heard these sayings at one time or another in your life. The question is, do you practice them? When you choose the path of optimism, of making an effort to see the positive in every situation and expecting positive outcomes, this change in mindset allows you to open your mind to the answers to even the most complex of challenges or problems.

There is no magic silver bullet to gain a positive outlook on life. However, you can take a step in the right direction by eliminating these 5 negative words from your vocabulary.

JUST
We often fail to give ourselves the credit we deserve. We downplay our accomplishments, our skills, even our value by using the word just. I was interviewing a woman who was a daycare provider to gather information for writing her resume. We were talking about her accomplishments. She said she didn’t have any accomplishments, that she was “just” a daycare provider. By thinking of herself in terms of “just” she negated all the positive aspects of what made her great at her job.

TRY
“Do or do not. There is no try.” While I may question Yoda’s syntax in Star Wars, I wholeheartedly agree with his idea. Try is a bad word in my house because it gives an instant excuse for failure. When someone tells me they will try, I instantly assume they will not do it because they are unwilling to commit. Plan for your success and strive for your success – don’t just try.

CAN’T
Henry Ford said “Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” There is a big difference between can’t and won’t. Often when you fail, it is the result of not being willing to take the effort or make the sacrifices that are necessary for success. Visualize your success and replace the word can’t with a plan of how you will succeed.

IMPOSSIBLE
Most goals that seem impossible become much more achievable when they are broken down into smaller steps. If you change your thinking, you begin to view problems and obstacles as opportunities for growth and learning. When you deem something impossible, you are stating that you have evaluated and tried all possible options or solutions to a problem.

SOMEDAY
This word carries the same problem as try. If you plan to accomplish your goal “someday”, how will you ever know if you have failed or succeeded? Set a time limit for your goals, give yourself a deadline, and clearly define when you will take steps toward success.