Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone!  Another year has absolutely flown by, once again.  And we’re back at that time where everyone is talking about making resolutions.  Losing weight, getting a better job (or a job at all!), spending more time on something or other, blah, blah, blah.  It gets so boring.  But yeah, I’m going to talk about it, too.  

The reason resolutions get boring is that deep down we all know we’re not going to stick to it.  Me, too.  I’m far from perfect.  Hard to believe, I know but stay with me here.  So why don’t resolutions work?  

Making a resolution is really just goal setting.  But resolutions tend to be big, vague, general types of goals.  Like this:  “I’m going to lose weight and be healthy!”  Sounds great, right?  And for a week or two you’ll add more vegetables to your dinner, not eat fast food and enthusiastically hit the gym.  And then the drive drops off and you’re back to your old habits, resolution forgotten.  Or more likely, becomes a new thing to feel guilty about.

It doesn’t work because the goal was too big and not focused.  Rather than a general, “I’m going to lose weight” idea, define how much weight you want to lose and set a smaller goal that’s a step toward your final goal.  Make your resolution “I’m going to lose 10lbs by the end of January”.  It’s much easier to manage.  You have a realistic goal within a realistic time frame which makes success much more likely.

The same goes for your job search.  “I’m going to find a new job this year” is a great resolution.  And if you leave it at that you’ll end up sending your resume out as many times as humanly possible to anything you might be remotely qualified for.  Which is a terrible strategy that won’t get you the results you want.  And it will leave you feeling like a failure questioning your worth.  No one needs that.  So don’t set yourself up to fail.

Make your general goal to find a job but set smaller goals that will be steps in the right direction.  In a previous post I suggested learning new job search techniques, like using LinkedIn and your network effectively.  That could be the first goal.  Rather than “I’m going to find a new job” make your resolution “I’m going to learn effective job search techniques that will get results”.  Then actually learn them.  And use them.  

Finding the resources you need isn’t all that hard.  This blog posts links to articles and sites designed to help you and there’s the whole of the internet to search.  You could also sign up for our weekly newsletter and join our group on LinkedIn.  There are plenty of articles to help you on the Career Dragon website, too.  And if you need help getting yourself set up online so you can compete in today’s job market, we’re here to help with that, too.

So set smaller goals that lead to your larger, more general ones.  You’ll have more success and actually get to where you want to be.  Now stop thinking about resolutions for a while.  It’s time to get ready for your New Year’s Eve party.  There’s plenty of time for goal setting tomorrow.  You know, after a few cups of coffee.