What changes will you make in 2016?

As 2015 draws to a close and the holiday season is nearly upon us it's time to reflect on the year almost gone and also to look to the future.

It can be tempting to reflect back on the year and focus on the things we didn't do. While this might be a natural human tendency it rarely serves our purpose well and in my opinion celebrating the successes, breakthroughs and achievements we had no matter how small is extremely important.

I used to be an advocate of setting New Year's resolutions, yet time and time again before the end of January I'd broken them and was then free (in my mind at least having broken them once) to continue to break them for the remainder of the year. While 1 January 2016 is a great time to resolve to do something new, there is no time like the present. The best time to change a habit, learn something new or challenge your comfort zone is right now.

Resolutions if made should always be what we decide we should be doing to better ourselves as opposed to what we feel we should be doing to please others. It's a small distinction, but what we choose to do through our own free will has far more value and influence than what others may persuade us we should be doing.

In making changes in our lives either now or from 1 January, self-evaluation is hugely important. When I start working with a new client the first thing I ask them to do is to start a diary. This is primarily for them (although is an extremely useful coaching tool too) as it provides a window to their beliefs, thoughts and ultimately actions. It's only once we begin to understand ourselves that we are really empowered to make positive changes in our life. The things we should be working on and the changes that would serve us best can often be obscured from our conscious mind. Self-evaluation is a powerful tool to remove blockages to progress and uncover the secret of our future success.

During my time in Japan on the Yoshinkan Aikido Senshusei course with the Tokyo Riot Police we were required on a weekly basis to reflect on the week just gone and to resolve to make positive changes in the week ahead. Over the 11-month course this gave me the opportunity to make changes for the better 48 times.

For 2016, I'll be doing something different and embarking each month on a 28-day challenge. A 28-challenge is something new, difficult and by definition a challenge that I'll commit to doing for 28 days in total. On day one I know each individual challenge will be tough, but by day 28 I will have built and subsequently internalised a new skill or habit. Over the course of the year, this amounts to 12 positive changes in my life and 12 opportunities to challenge and test my comfort zone.

One of the things people tend to think about over the Christmas period is their career. It's a natural time to ask questions such as:

• Am I happy in my job?
• Am I really following my passion in life?
• What do I really want to do?

Answering the above questions starts with self-evaluation and below I share an extract from my new book Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search on the three stages of successful career planning. I hope you find the time to work through the exercises and use the planning process as an opportunity to evaluate your current situation with a view to making changes for the better:

Extract from 'Your Plan of Attack' - Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search - Career Codex 2015:

Whether you are currently in a job and looking for your next career move or out of work and keen to find your next position, you need a personal jobseeker plan.

Finding a new position is a business in itself – you are now the managing director of your own company called Finding a Position Limited.

There are no employees in your organisation, and the buck stops with you – success or failure is 100 percent your responsibility.

At the heart of any successful business is a clear and concise plan that everyone in the organisation is aligned to – it ensures clarity of direction and unity in purpose.

In business people spend a large proportion of their time planning. It’s a way to justify and monitor expenditure and to check on progress and performance.

Although in business they do this all the time, when it comes to their own job search, they leave the chance of success to a series of haphazard and uncoordinated actions over which they have little or no control.

Don’t get me wrong; you might find a position quickly without documenting your personal jobseeker plan. I hope you do, provided that it’s the opportunity you really want and not something you’re simply grabbing because it’s the only thing available. Don’t eat the scraps from under the table!

There is something very special about the job market, which is one of the principal reasons that spending time constructing a well-thought-out plan and then sticking to it is of paramount importance.

Looking for a new position is emotional!

Protecting your emotions is fundamental to your success in the job market.

A personal jobseeker plan removes this emotion. You have a plan, and your job is to stick to it no matter what. It’s all about running a process and being disciplined and diligent in following your plan each and every day.

Your plan is written to deliver your end goal of finding a job in a realistic and defined time period. In knowing this, you can disengage yourself from the outcome and the emotion that comes with it, while trusting that you’ll ultimately secure the position you want.

Jobseekers often suffer from an illusion that the harder they work, the more success they will have and the sooner it will come. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Thinking about the job market and looking for a position morning, noon and night is a common failure of most jobseekers.

They focus on nothing else; it becomes their sole purpose for being. They check their e-mail constantly and review the job boards multiple times each day. There’s no downtime, and eventually they burn out physically and emotionally.

Your plan protects you from this emotion; it stops you from constantly thinking about the job market and maintains your mental well-being.

A personal jobseeker plan has three elements:

• Destination – Where are you going, and how long will it take to get there?
• Direction – How do you get there?
• Discipline – How are you going to ensure that you stay on course, remain focused and keep your energy levels up?

It all starts with defining your destination – defining your end goal and the time it will take to get there.

To define your goal requires that you answer three questions. Don’t be limited by disempowering thoughts; whether current opportunities are in line with your answers is irrelevant.

Remember, you are no longer reacting to what’s out there; you’re instead defining where you’re going. That’s a huge difference!

1. Why are you looking for a job?

People experience push and pull factors when making a decision to enter the job market.

An example of a push factor is redundancy; you were pushed to leave your current position as your role ceased to exist.

An example of a pull factor could be excitement at the prospect of entering a different industry sector – the grass looks greener, and you’re keen to apply the expertise you’ve gained in your current sector in a different environment.

Sometimes push and pull factors can be one and the same – they combine to reinforce an urge to action and as such can have more power.

For example, you believe your skills are underutilised in your current role (the push) and have seen a position advertised where you can put your skills and experience to better use (the pull).

To uncover your push and pull factors, take a moment now to complete the exercise below.

Exercise one

Start with a blank piece of paper with a line down the middle. Above the left column, write push, and above the right, write pull.

Time yourself for two minutes and start writing everything that comes into your head as fast as you can. Don’t stop and think – just write, and keep writing until the time is up!

What do you notice? What does this tell you about yourself? Are there patterns or common themes to your push and pull factors?

Often, push factors can be negative whereas pull factors can have a more positive spin.

Which do you think a recruiter or a future employer will want to hear more about when it comes to an interview?

Please keep this exercise; you’ll need it again shortly.

2. Who do you want to work for?

If you had the choice – and remember now, you do have the choice – who would you like to work for?

The who can be a company or a type of individual or both – what’s important is that you define it clearly and concisely.

Think about what size of organisation, what sector and in what location. Be cognisant of your current skills and experience and where they may fit best.

If you have experience in manufacturing, then other manufacturing businesses could be a good starting point. If you’ve previously worked for large organisations, it could make sense to target big businesses first. To help answer this question, take a moment now to complete the exercise below.

Exercise two

Take a blank piece of paper and draw three large circles. In each circle, write one of the following – organisation, person and location.

Take two minutes on each stage – time yourself and work as fast as you can. Try not to think; just write down what comes into your head. Don’t question or analyse what you are writing – just write.

Organisation – List organisations that you think you’d like to work for. It doesn’t matter where they’re based or whether they’re hiring; it’s about documenting organisations you have an affinity with or an interest in. Write them down!

(An example here could be Virgin.)

Person – List people for whom you’d like to work. Be specific and name them. Write as many down as possible during the timed period.

(An example here could be Sir Richard Branson.)

Location – Write down geographical areas you’re prepared to work in. Again, be specific. If London is your choice, determine where, specifically, in London you’d like to work. This will be influenced by your preferred distance to commute and willingness to relocate nationally or internationally.

Please keep this exercise. You’ll need it again shortly.

3. What type of job do you want?

Similarly, what type of job do you want? What skills will you be using, and what types of responsibilities will you have?

Remember that employers will be looking for relevant qualifications or experience. You’re less likely to walk into an opportunity to do something you have no knowledge of or experience doing before.

There will be skills and experience you have now and those that you wish to develop in the future.

Exercise three

Take another blank piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left-hand side at the top, write now, and on the right, write future.

Under now, write down the skills and experience you have obtained to date, and under future, the skills and experience you’re looking to develop as your career progresses.

Time yourself for two minutes, and start writing everything that comes into your head as fast as you can. Don’t stop and think – just write and keep writing until the time is up.

Please keep this exercise. You’ll need it again shortly.

By thinking about these three questions and doing the exercises, you’ve gone a long way towards defining your destination and have done something that most jobseekers will never do.

You may have found the exercises quite simplistic, but remember what Leonardo da Vinci said: ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.’

If you glossed over the exercises (we all do it), please go back and invest the time required to do them properly; it’s important.

Not only does knowing where you are going focus your attack on the job market, but it means that in any dialogue with a professional recruiter or potential employer, you will be more focused and convincing.

You’re better equipped to explain why you want to work for a particular organisation.

Remember, too, the law of attraction. When you think about and subsequently focus on what you really want, you create energy, which serves to attract the very thing you’re after.

So now let’s take each exercise and analyse it to clearly define your destination and jobseeker goal. Take the three pieces of paper you used to complete the exercises.

1. Why?

Exercise one – Push and pull factors.

The trick here is to focus on the positive, which can be and often are the pull factors. Circle two or three things that are the most important to you.

2. Who?

Exercise two – Organisation, person and location.

What do these tell you about your preferred next move?

Organisation – What are the similar factors among the organisations you’ve named? Is there a common theme in terms of size, sector or something else?

Person – Of the people you’ve named, what are two or three things they have in common?

(The leader of the organisation often sets the company culture, so getting specific here further defines the organisation you want to work for.)

Location – This is often the easiest to define. Which locations, specifically, do you want to work in? Even if you’re internationally flexible, you have to focus your attention somewhere.

3. What?

Exercise three – Now and future.

Of your current skills, which are your strongest? Which are you most confident in, and where can you demonstrate achievement? Focus on only two or three, and circle them.

Similarly, looking at the list of skills you’d like to develop, which is the most important? Settle on just one, and circle it.

Pulling these together, you define your jobseeker goal.

For example:

I (insert name here) will find a new challenge that better utilises my skills and experience.

I will work for a large aerospace organisation that is passionate and entrepreneurial and based in Hamburg or Berlin.

I will utilise my leadership and project management skills and will also have the opportunity to gain a more in-depth knowledge of the German culture and language.

You need to sense check your end goal to ensure that the sum of the parts is a realistic and possible whole.

For example, if there are no large aerospace organisations in Hamburg or Berlin, you may need to go back to the drawing board.

Your goal is so important; it aligns everything else in your personal jobseeker plan to deliver it.

It enables you to do the following:

• Be selective in whom you approach.
• Deliver a consistent message.
• Remove distraction through focus.

Your goal sits at the top of your one-page personal jobseeker plan and is something you read at the start of every day.

To get hold of your copy of Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search, which outlines the four key stages to finding success in the executive job market (environment, psychology, planning and process), please click to visit Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

If you need some extra help and motivation in 2016 to find the job you really want or change career, our 7-Week Transformation Programme starts on 17 January – please click here for more information.

Wishing you a happy Christmas and a very prosperous and successful 2016!