Setting professional goals for 2024? Here’s how to follow through on them

A new year offers the perfect opportunity to start anew with your professional goals. Whether you are looking for a new job, aiming to level up in your current position, or just want to add some new skills to your résumé, Forbes Edge is the place to be.

In 2024, it’s my goal to bring you the absolute best stories of success that Forbes has to offer. As an associate editor for our newsletters team, I have the pleasure of reading inspiring pieces of journalism about business owners and entrepreneurs who are affecting change in their industries—and then I get to share them with you. And I’ll of course continue to curate expert advice and strategies on career advancement, technology and more.

To kick off Forbes Edge’s 2024 era, we’ll get some advice from careers coach Rachel Wells on using the SMART framework to create (or edit) your new year’s resolutions. Then, we’ll get some strategies on one of my favorite activities: journaling. Keeping a journal is a great way to track your professional goals and growth over time, and leadership coach Caroline Castrillon has a few prompts that are sure to help fill your pages with ideas. Let’s dive in!

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Practical advice: How to set new year’s resolutions for 2024 like a leader

Yes, we are already a few days into 2024, but that doesn’t mean time’s up on editing or adding to your new year’s resolutions. In fact, if your goals for the year are related to your career, it’s a good idea to return to them often and make sure you’re staying on track. A great way to ensure this is to follow a framework known as SMART, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

Let’s start with being specific about your goals. Having a vague objective like, “I want to get a promotion” doesn’t offer much to work toward. Instead, think about who you need to talk to for a promotion (your manager), whether you want a promotion at your current company or elsewhere, and most importantly, why you want and believe you deserve a new title.?

Now you need to track your progress by ensuring that your goals are measurable. Putting in place quantifiable metrics for your resolutions will not only indicate when you’ve attained your objective, but they will help your goal feel manageable by breaking it down into smaller steps.?

Finally, avoid procrastination by making your resolutions time-bound. Rather than having a goal of simply landing a promotion, rephrase it to, “My goal is to earn a promotion by January 2025.” Give yourself a realistic but within-reach timeframe that allows you enough runway to track and make progress on your objectives.?

Goals aren’t achieved overnight, but by breaking them down you can make progress every day.?

Read the full story here from Rachel Wells for more on keeping your goals relevant and achievable, as well as examples for each step.

Tips & strategies: Inspiring journal prompts to help kickstart your career

For many years, I thought of journaling as a daunting task—one that I would stick to for a few weeks before giving up and letting my notebook collect dust. Last year, however, I discovered that prompts were the key to keep writing. Rather than thinking about what I want to write about each day, I use a prompt as a jumping off point and let my pen take over from there.

Research shows that journaling has health-related benefits like reducing stress and increasing resilience. It can also give your career a boost by helping you be more aware of opportunities, track progress and improve decision-making.

It doesn’t matter if you use a paper and pen or a digital journaling app: The most important thing is to get started. Here are a few prompts consider:

1. What does professional success mean to me?
2. Do I have a mentor at work? If not, how can I find someone that I look up to?
3. What careers have I brainstormed or fantasized about?
4. Is there anything holding me back from changing careers? If so, what?
5. Do I constantly feel that my work is draining my energy? If so, why?
6. If I could design my ideal workday, what would it look like?
7. What area can I learn more about to be better at my job?

These are just a handful of the 30 prompts that Caroline Castrillon has outlined in her recent article. Read the full story here for more writing inspiration on topics like communication and leadership.

More:?

• 9 Essential Actions To Take On LinkedIn To Start 2024
• Why You’re Not Hearing Back After You Apply For Jobs Online
• Ditch The ‘New Year, New You’ Mantra. Scale Who You Already Are
• How To Write A Résumé That Defies Ageism And Lands Your Next Job

Calling all success seekers:?

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Thank you for reading! We'll be back next week with another edition of Forbes Edge.

This edition of Forbes Edge was written and curated by associate editor Chris Dobstaff.