3 Career Resolutions To Make For 2020

By Ashley Stahl, Originally Published in Forbes

The office lights are back on, and you just threw away those holiday decorations that were still up.??

It’s time to replace the shopping bags with your briefcase and step back into the grind.

...Sigh.

It can be tempting to start counting down the days until the next holiday, but instead, this time, you want to choose differently. You want to live a life and have a career that’s more joyful, and sustainable. So what do you do? You decide to use your year as an opportunity to become the best version of yourself. The ultimate experiment.

If this means making a career shift or improving your credibility in your industry, consider this new year, and new decade, an invitation to make a change.

As a career coach, I have met many people who are initially afraid to pursue their dreams or take their careers to the next step.?They sit down in my office and talk about feeling overwhelmed or unsure of how to proceed.?

Let me tell you, being “overwhelmed” is a full time job, and a choice, and the sneaky payoff that comes with saying you’re “overwhelmed” is this: it gives you an excuse to avoid what needs handling and sit in your feelings. I get it, we’re human, and it’s important to feel your feelings, but it’s also time to reframe our relationship with your story of being overwhelmed so that you can step into the identity you truly want to cultivate.?

Together, we focus on making small steps forward. After all, it is a series of small steps that lead to large change.?

Whether you’re looking for your dream job or you have set a goal in your current career, here are three steps you need to take this year.

1. Update and build your online branding.

You might be thinking a professional brand is only for entrepreneurs, but the reality is, if you want to be a front runner or thought leader in your industry, you need to build your brand. And that starts with updating and adding to your media profiles.

Even if you are not on the job hunt, keeping your credentials up-to-date is necessary to stay relevant. You never know who is going to be looking at your online content and profiles, especially in recent years with more and more employers revealing they recruit passive candidates. Plus, I’ve heard enough horror stories by now of job seekers who don’t check their LinkedIn, or have an outdated email, only to discover weeks, months or years later, that an incredible opportunity was missed as a result of it entering into an old channel.?

This means you need to have your accounts not only up to date, but also up to par for professional viewing. According to one study, 84% of employers are using social media to recruit new hires.?

Start off by doing an audit on your media assets, and while it’s important to keep your LinkedIn up to date, I argue that you must also explore your less trafficked sources, such as your old MySpace account you forgot to delete, or anything the search engine may gift a potential employer. Unless, of course, you want your pending opportunities to be met with questionable photos of you on Spring Break in 1996! Ask yourself: when’s the last time I googled myself? Chances are you are probably due for a sweep. Good resources to help you scan your rep online are included here in this article I wrote.

And of course once you’re done cleaning out the skeletons of your online closet, it’s time to get back to your?LinkedIn, which is one of the first places employers and hiring recruiters are going to look. I have shared tips on what you must remove from your LinkedIn profile right away. But, the game of personal branding is as much about adding content as it is about removing it.

Also, if you’re looking to make a career pivot, take note that online publishing is a great way to establish yourself in a new niche and focus on content topics that align with the direction you’re headed (versus where you’ve been thus far in your career).?

A little added work will go a long way. If the task of writing articles sounds really daunting, you can always look to hire a ghostwriter through a freelance website like UpWork or work with a publishing house like the one I started (CAKE Publishing).

2. Take learning into your own hands.

You will always be your number one asset, so start investing back into yourself. Education is changing, and e-courses are the fastest growing industry expected to be worth $200 billion by 2024. This is no surprise considering the cost of attending college is on average $35,000 per year and you can get excellent masterclasses taught by industry leaders on Lynda or Masterclass.com for the fraction of the price.

With this much information and courses available people are taking more initiative and the competition is rising. It’s up to to to keep up.

Here are some of my favorite online learning platforms:

Masterclass: This online learning platform is known for its acclaimed instructors.?You can learn from expert such as Judd Apatow, Serena Williams and Samuel L. Jackson. Along with art and entertainment, the platform has expanded into the entrepreneur and political topics. Be aware that this learning style is more of a classroom lecture method of teaching with less hands-on work.?It does however offer beautiful videos and workbooks to accompany each lecture. An individual course runs roughly $90 or an all-access pass is $180.??

Coursera: A free learning platform that enables students the opportunity to take college level courses for free. It has great structure, but be aware of the grading system since the platform relies on peers to grade one another for their work.

Alison: This is a free online learning platform dedicated primarily to workplace-based skills. This is a great way to dip your toes into the water, gain insight and determine what you need or want to focus more in to grow your career. I am excited to be a part of this platform with an e-course for job hunting to be released February 2020.??

These platforms grant you access to anything from marketing advice to practices for mindfulness. Don’t worry, if this style of learning doesn’t get you excited, listen to Podcasts, or watch TedTalks for inspiration. The amount of resources at the tip of your fingertips today leaves no reason to not learn more.

If this has brought you to a point of wanting more in-depth training on a specific topic, consider speaking with your manager about taking formal courses. Many companies offer employees education support, and if this isn’t offered by your employer yet, it doesn’t mean you can’t present a proposal and case for how this education will help your career and their business in return.??

3. Establish a strong mentor relationship.

Mentors have changed my life.?Before I started my coaching business, I realized in order to help others in upgrading their lives or careers, I needed to first upgrade myself… After all, how can I help someone see their blindspots if I cannot examine my own? I sought out established people that were working in the same space I envisioned myself stepping into, and made it a priority to learn from them. Given that coaches are in the business of advising, I knew that meant saving my money to hire the best of the best. It’s been ten years and I haven’t looked back since.

Studies have found that working with a mentor improves your behavior, attitude, and overall health. A mentor will not only provide sound career advice, but they will also open doors that you might not have previously had access to. I wrote an article that dives into the three types of mentors; free mentor, paid mentor and a sponsor, and which one you need.

So how do you even get started in finding one of these three people in your life?

You can seek out people via LinkedIn, your alumni association or a local networking group. Start a list of people who inspire you, and make a point to reach out to them, be it on LinkedIn or other forms of social media. Ask to treat them with a cup of coffee if you’re in their area, and come to the table with three intentions: to learn as much as possible, establish a relationship with the person (if they resonate), and offer value to their life.?

This might all feel beyond your comfort zone, but consider this:what got you to where you are isn’t going to get you where you want to go. Time to take charge of your career and step beyond your previous actions!

For a FREE course to land a new job you love, launch your dream business, or find your purpose, visit https://ashleystahl.com/ ??