Well, 2022 is done, here comes 2023. And you might be asking -
How can you make the most of your new year?
Well, today, I explain how to make 2023 a great year for your career.
Hello and a very warm welcome to Episode No 57 of ‘Your Bravo Career’
My name is Mark Crossfield, I’m a Professional Career Coach / helping you to love your job and build a great career.
This podcast is about why your career matters
How you can enjoy what you are doing day each day at work
and how to build a great career along the way.
Introduction
In this episode, my first of 2023, I’m discussing how to make it a great year for your career.
During the year there are several windows of opportunity when people have enough time away from work to think about their job or career.
To consider what’s next, or what could be next and, hey come to realisation that, there might be something better out there for me.
Summer holidays is one such window, and another one is the Christmas / New Year Break.
So, if you are interested in thinking about our career and what to do in 2023, this episode is for you.
Who knows what could happen by just listening to a short podcast episode.
So, let’s get started with how you can make 2023 a great year for your career.
The first place to start with this stuff is always your mindset and understanding that you have the ability to shape your career in the next 12 months.
In fact, nobody else can do it for you, although as we will discover later other people can help you along the way.
Your mindset gives you the inspiration and confidence and allows you and encourages you to see that change is possible.
This is the way I like to explain it.
Ask yourself, is positive change possible for other people? Do other people change their careers and go from not enjoying their jobs to loving them?
The answer, of course, is yes.
So, ask yourself - if other people can do that, is it possible that I could? Could I find a job or career that I love, for example?
And this time, the answer is of course you can!
So, having a positive future focussed mindset also allows you to take the actions you need to take.
I’ve said this before, taking action is crucial.
So, with all that said here are 4 actions you can take to have a great 2023.
Firstly, it’s important to …
1. Design your year (Repeat)
Your career and how it turns out, is not pre-determined, you have the ability to shape what happens next, in this new year and in the rest of your career. So, you can do this by ‘designing your year’.
Steven Pressfield, author of Turning Pro and The War of Art, said that ‘most of us have two lives: the lives we live and the lives we are capable of living’
You get to decide on the direction of your career and life and the things you do thereafter influence the outcome.
So, what’s important to you in your career? Think here about your values, we talked about those in the last episode, didn’t we. Think big picture as well as some of the smaller things.
What do you want to learn in the coming year?
What projects or other work do you want to spend more time on in 2023?
Where is it time for you to make the next step in your career? What skills do you need to do that?
And finally …
What support do you need to move forward in your career?
And,
Where will you get that help?
Now I want you to make a list of the things that you want in your job or career this year, based on your answers to, or reflections on, these questions.
Write your ideas down.
Review and refine your ideas.
Are these things on your list, your job and career aspirations for this year, attractive? Are they things and outcomes you really want? If not, can you re-word them to make them more attractive.
If the goals are challenging that’s a good sign, but it’s also vital that they are attractive.
So, the first action is …
Design your year. Make a list of the things you want in your career this year. Ensure these are outcomes you really want.
And create a plan for making this list a reality.
What’s the first thing you need to do? And what’s the second etc.
Ok, let’s move onto the second action …
The second thing is …
2. Professional development (Repeat)
Professional development - the continued learning, training and education, keeps you up to date on current trends as well as helping you to develop new skills for the purpose of advancement at work.
Developing yourself professionally allows you to take control of your career, map a future that fits with your developing needs and ultimately work in a job, or series of jobs, that bring you satisfaction and suitable rewards.
Of course, the professional development topics most appropriate for you will be unique to your role, industry and your current situation.
IT skills, people skills, budgeting, and project management are just a few of the subjects available for you to study. Many of these subjects can be studied online through for example LinkedIn learning or even YouTube.
So, the second action here is …
Make a list of the professional development you can undertake this year to get the best of out of career in 2023.
Ok, so when it comes to having a great 2023 in your career, so far we have …
- One, Design your year and
- Two, develop yourself professionally
And, in a few minutes, we will look at the next 2 actions to take to make 2022 a great year for your career.
Bravo Career Resources
Ok, so the resources I’m suggesting today, and I appreciate these are a bit self indulgent, are the best Your Bravo Career podcast episodes you can listen to, to help you in your career right now.
These are the podcast episodes I recommend you listen to.
- Episode No 8 – Should you stay or should you go
- Episode No 14 – How to reset your career for success
- Episode No 39 – My interview with Sonja Price – your great career transformation
- Episode No 52 – How to get a payrise – a great thing to investigate in 2023
Ok, let’s get back to Part 2 of the episode.
Part 2
Welcome back to Part 2
So, let’s continue to look at the actions you need to take to have a great 2023.
And the 3rd action is …
3. Refresh your connections (Repeat)
A strong network helps you in several ways and is the next action I want to talk about. In 2023 having a network of individuals who can help you and support you is tremendously beneficial. There are many ways that your network can help you this year including:
- Supporting you in your existing role, helping you with a problem for example
- Connecting you to other people that can help you
- Helping you to find new career opportunities
- Helping you to build your skills and knowledge, you can learn from your connections
- Providing recommendations and references and of course,
- Boosting your confidence when you feel supported
It’s also worth mentioning mentoring relationships as these can be extremely supportive in your career. Having a strong bond with an experienced professional in your field helps you to learn and grow. You benefit from their experience helping you to boost your performance at work.
Action
So the action here is to strengthen you professional connections and if you don’t already have one seek a mentor to support you in your career.
Ok, that leads us on to the final action …
And the final action is …
4. Boost your confidence (Repeat)
I’ve talked about this before, how confidence is the positive motivational energy you need to extend yourself at work and in your career. The elixir that makes it easy to apply for new jobs, speak to your boss about a pay raise or even take steps to changing jobs completely. When this confidence is absent it seems like all these things are beyond you. Like there is some invisible force field preventing your from progressing in your career.
Confidence is a state of mind of course and although there is no ‘magic switch’ that you can flip to create this state of mind there are some things you can do generate confidence.
The first thing is to remind yourself of the journey you have taken, your achievements to date and all your strengths. Think about the occasions that you have felt confident and reflect on what it was about those situations that made you feel that way. Draw strength and confidence from the progress you have made and let go of any limiting beliefs you may have about yourself and what you believe you are capable of.
Remember also that confidence isn’t something fixed which you have or you don’t have. It’s something you can create and develop. You do this by developing intention for you job and career (discussed in step 1), by developing new skills (discussed in step 2) and by building and refreshing your connections (discussed in step 3).
When you get clear by following these steps, renewed confidence is bound to follow.
Action
So the action here is to remind yourself of the journey you have taken, your achievements to date and all your strengths. Draw strength and confidence from the progress you have made and let go of any limiting beliefs you may have about yourself and what you believe you are capable of.
And, always remember, it’s not ‘I need to be confident to take action’, but rather ‘I need to take action to be confident’.
What are the actions you need to take today to boost your confidence and make 2023 a great year for your career?
Conclusion:
So, there you have it, the 4 actions you can take to make 2023 a great year for your career.
- Design you job and career the way you want it
- Make personal development a priority in 2023
- Refresh your connections, and finally
- Take action to boost your confidence
And, that just leaves your Career Call to Action
Your call to action today is to:
Review these actions and get started today with one action today to get started making 2023 a year to remember for your career.
Show Ending
So, that’s it! We’ve come to the end of another episode.
I hope you enjoyed the show.
If you haven’t already subscribed, why not do that now. I’ve got a special guest on the next podcast who I’m excited to talk with. I think you will enjoy the conversation as well …
Have a wonderful week and I will speak to you again in a couple of weeks time.
Bye for now.