30 Dec Make 2023 YOUR Year at Work with these 8 Steps
2023 is just a couple of days away from knocking on our door. Soon we will be changing our calendars, writing new year resolutions, and scribbling out 2022 on each date we write for the next couple of months. Though it’s not necessarily the start of something new, many like to use the changing year to change themselves or push for new goals. If you want to use this new year to have a new you at work, check out these tips we’ve compiled to make 2023 your year.
1. Ask Yourself this Question: Are you happy in your career?
Starting big, we should ask one of the most important questions regarding your career: are you happy with it?
To start 2023 off right, you should take a second to consider if your job truly fulfills you. Lay out the facts—what makes you excited to go to work and what makes you dread clocking in? Is there anything you would change or anything that could be better? And, if possible, is there something that you wouldn’t change?
Of course, there are different levels to whether or not a job makes you happy. You wouldn’t completely rule a job out if you had one bad day, would you? So, gather your facts and weigh each good and bad thing…
Are you happy in your career?
Yes, I’m pretty happy where I am
That’s great! Finding a job or career that you find happiness in can be difficult. Many people settle for something that fulfills their financial needs or their family dynamics. This means, unfortunately, that many don’t truly feel “happy” while working.
Of course, we all have different definitions of happiness. Perhaps your definition revolves around being secure in financial and family matters.
In 2023, you should consider how to make your job better. Even if you are happy with the work you’re doing, consider any improvements that could be made. Maybe refresh your desk décor, simplify a process you use often so it’s less time-consuming, or buy a new calendar to organize your days. Little changes like this can improve our mood, our work motivation, and our year.
Try a few different things—big or small—and start 2023 with improvements that will make work even more enjoyable.
No, I’m not that happy at work…
Well… it’s time to find a new job!
Seriously. While it can seem daunting, there’s no need to stick to a job that wears you down. A quick Google search will tell you that we spend one-third of our lives working (roughly 90k hours). If you work the average 40 hours a week and live to be ~80 years old, that could mean you work anywhere from 25 to 40-some years of your life. Most of this fluctuates based on your career, your personal needs, and your drive.
Do you want to work all those years in a job that makes you unhappy?
Take the necessary steps to switch your career in 2023 and find something that doesn’t make you dread going to work every day. (Feel free to check out our blog on kickstarting your job search to get started!)
2. Evaluate 2022 in Detail
To make 2023 your year, you need to evaluate 2022 in great detail. What things went right in 2022 and what things went wrong? Were there some months that you struggled to get through your responsibilities while others were spent flourishing? What were the key differences in those times?
What Worked and What Didn’t?
Listing things that worked and things that didn’t work for you during 2022 can be a great place to start. For one, it can help you take a moment to reflect on your year at work. This is always a good idea as it helps you discover what is important and what is unnecessary.
On the other hand, reflecting on your past year of work can expose some faults you didn’t notice during the time. Perhaps a missed opportunity or a weakly developed idea that you never caught.
From this list, you can create a plan for 2023 on how to successfully get through any possible setbacks.
What would you like to improve on?
One major thing we always discuss during the start of a new year is improving.
In the case of work, you might want to consider which areas can be improved and which should stay the same. This can be anything from results and reactions to your work motivation and projects completed. Even simply setting a goal to complete two major projects in one quarter instead of just one project can push you to greater success and improvement.
Further, you should consider your own personal improvements related to work. Is there something different you can be doing each day that will impact your 2023 work year in the long run? Perhaps you pick up a new habit that greatly improves your motivation or you simplify a part of work that you found too complex and end up enjoying now that you’ve simplified.
Even the littlest of improvements can change the course of 2023 for you.
Do you still want to go in the same direction in 2023?
Just like the first question we asked at the top of this post, you should also ask yourself if you’re going in the direction you want to be. Sometimes things can derail. Not necessarily on purpose, but things get in the way and shift focus onto something else.
Are you still going in the direction that you want or has that direction/goal at the end of the path changed?
3. Set Goals for 2023—Big and Small
We’ve all heard about making a New Year’s Resolution at the start of a year. These usually range from personal goals—going to the gym, learning a language, etc.—to career goals—finishing a project you’ve been working on for months, getting a promotion, making another big move for your career, etc.
While we don’t always stick to these goals (sometimes because situations change, sometimes because we set too big of goals with too short of a time limit), it’s still something worth doing.
Firstly, setting goals for your career in 2023 can help you plan things ahead of time. Whether you’re aiming for something big or something small, going in without a plan can cause issues. Take a moment to figure out what you want to accomplish throughout the year and when you want to accomplish it.
Don’t forget, though, that too many big goals in one year can be just as detrimental as running in blindly. Don’t overfill your plate with big projects. Instead, choose an amount you know you can handle (perhaps add one more than that to push yourself) and fill the rest of your year with smaller goals that can be attained easier.
4. Rid Yourself of 2022’s Setbacks and Baggage for a Fresh Start in 2023
This step is vitally important to reaching success in 2023.
It’s almost inevitable that there were some failures throughout 2022. As much as we’d all like to make no mistakes, we’re humans with a knack for tripping over our own feet in the race to be perfect. However, the issue doesn’t come from making the mistake. Instead, the issue mostly comes from when you hold onto those mistakes and the feelings that stemmed from them.
It’s human to make mistakes. And, yes, it sucks to make them. But holding onto the negativity from them will only hold you back. Unless you’ve figured out a way to turn those mistakes into successes—or learned a lesson from them—dwelling on things in the past like this will only cause you to make more mistakes moving forward.
It’s not easy and it’s not something you can do in one day, but you need to let your baggage from 2022 go before you can start productively working toward your goals in 2023.
So, take a deep breath. Acknowledge the mistakes made. And let it go.
5. What are Your 2023 Values?
Though it doesn’t always feel like it, a year can be a long time. A really long time. It’s certainly long enough for your values and what you find important to change.
Situations change, circumstances get better or get worse, and your mindset adapts throughout each experience gone through. So, what do you value now?
Whether you’ve started a new job, had a child, got married, moved across the country, or lost someone important to you in 2022, things have changed around you. To truly be successful in 2023, your new circumstances need to be evaluated.
Understand the changes you’ve gone through in 2022 and decide what you find most important now. How can you apply that to work? This may include changing jobs, moving somewhere more applicable for your goals in life, or introducing new daily tasks to get you started in a different direction. It could also just include completing your work as usual.
Throughout the course of 2022, you might have realized that you now value your life outside of work to a greater extent and want a better work-life balance.
Figure out how you can make 2023 align with your values.
6. Set a Starting Point—Create an Action Plan for 2023
Following closely with setting your goals for 2023, you need to build a plan of some sort to carry out these goals. Where do you want to be and by when?
We said it earlier, but we’ll say it again: walking blindly into things will not help you reach success. While spontaneity and taking chances are beneficial to some extent, it isn’t always. We have all heard the success stories—someone took a risk, sold their whole life away, and began their own company that made it big. Someone finally earned a promotion to a higher position by taking on a project they weren’t sure they could handle but did. Someone applied for a job they always wanted to do but wasn’t quite qualified for and still ended up getting hired.
While these success stories are amazing and worth looking at to take notes for your own success, there is so much more to them than they ever tell. It’s not just luck that backs them up but preparation. You wouldn’t take the leap if you didn’t know how to jump, right? Especially if that leap, if failed, led to bigger upsets than just not taking the leap at all.
Construct a plan and make sure you attain your success in 2023 by being prepared.
7. Your Personal Strengths and Weaknesses
While evaluating your 2022 work year in detail, you might have noticed some repeated skills used or skills that you lacked. With the new year starting, it’s as great of time as ever to build and expand on these skills.
Are there any skills you need to update for 2023? To learn in greater depth?
Over the course of your career, you’ve built up skills in a lot of different areas. Whether it’s technological skills or skills involving your mentality/drive, you know more than you might give yourself credit for.
Take a moment to understand where your strengths lie and where you could work on things more. Between the skills you know like the back of your hand and the new skills you’re still testing out or learning more about, there might be a few skills that you haven’t exercised in a while.
When it’s been a long time since last use, those skills can become a bit rusty. This is especially true for programs/technology-based skills, as technology is constantly evolving.
Give yourself a crash course on all things related to these skills and make sure you’re up to date.
Did you have any shortcomings in 2022 because of your skills (or lack of)?
Depending on the kind of work you do, it’s possible that you experienced a few hiccups throughout 2022 when you lacked the proper skillset. Whether it’s a new program you haven’t used or a new position you don’t know how to carry out properly, it’s best to understand which skills you need to work on or add to your growing list.
By acknowledging the shortcomings you had throughout 2022, you can prepare yourself for 2023 better. In fact, this can help you figure out which skills you need to work on in order to succeed throughout the new year.
8. Above All: Own It
If you want to make 2023 your year, you need to start with the obvious. If you think 2023 will be great for your career, then it will be. But if you hesitate and are uncertain, then it’s more likely for you to face failures and difficulties throughout the year.
Be confident, be strong, and make it happen.
At The Jonus Group, we dedicate ourselves to helping you reach your career goals. Whether you’re looking for a recruiter to help place you in a new position, a career coach to assist you with your resume or career outlook, or just for some advice on how to do this stuff yourself, we can help.
You can read through our blogs to get started by yourself or you can contact us on our Contact Page to possibly be matched with a recruiter. Further, if you’re interested in getting your resume revamped, practicing your interviewing skills, or other career services, you can schedule a consultation to meet with a certified Career Coach. Here’s a link to our calendar.
Take control of 2023 and make it your year.