2020 is here. It’s time to take charge of your career. You are not a leaf blown about by the wind. You are an entrepreneur, a CEO and a business owner. Here are 10 ways to get started:
1. Decide what you want from your career in 2020. Do you need a new job? Is it time to change careers, or start your own business?
2. If you plan to stay at your current job through 2020, use the upcoming 12 months to your advantage. Make a list of good things you can get from your job this year. I’m talking about training, tools, new experiences, visibility, credibility, contacts, etc.
3. Make a list of people you need to check in with for lunch or coffee in January or February. Networking is amazing for your moral support, and theirs.
4. If you have a job now, think about and write down your on-the-job goals for 2020. Share them with your manager. If possible, plan your 2020 vacation days now, too. Draw up a roadmap for the year. It will go fast!
5. If you are jobhunting, read my columns and/or the book Reinvention Roadmap to learn a completely different, empowered way to job hunt. Stop filling out online job applications, which suck away your time and energy and yield poor results
6. Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back for everything you accomplished in 2019. Write down your triumphs and learning. You have already surmounted major obstacles. Give yourself credit for that!
7. Think about starting a part-time consulting business alongside your job or your job search. Business cards are easy to order and very cheap (try vistaprint.com). Network as a consultant, because you are one whether you know it or not
8. Think about the job you want after the job you have now, and what you need to acquire to get it. Think about the particular employers who could use your services if your current job goes away or you get tired of it
9. Get a journal and write in it every day or every few days
10. It’s your career. It’s your life. You have tremendous gifts to bring to the world. How will you use them in 2020, starting right now?
