Things to do differently in 2022 to better manage your career

As 2021 winds down, it is only natural that we look to 2022 with renewed optimism and hope. The New Year is always a time designated for getting out of old routines and looking toward the future. We’ve all heard the adage that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is insanity. There is truth in that statement. As the end of the year approaches, evaluate how you’ve managed your career and what you can do differently. Change can be scary, overwhelming, and daunting. But it’s the only way to improve. If you continued to exercise your muscles by executing the same movements and lifting the same weight, your strength and endurance would never improve. Your career is like a muscle. Without exercise, you run the risk of stagnation, at best, and atrophy at worst. 

Think about what has been working for you and what hasn’t. Write down a list of these things so that you can visualize them. Then, think about what you would like to achieve in the coming year. Lastly, create a plan for getting there. Perhaps you’re looking to be promoted, switch industries, or change careers altogether. Maybe you have other things going on in your personal life, and you want to maintain your status quo. All of these are valid, and all of them require a strategy. 

Do you feel like you’re too busy to focus on managing your career and your brand? That in and of itself is a problem. Many companies are short-staffed right now, which means that the employees who remain are overwhelmed with executing tasks that need to get done to drive the business forward. But if you’re “busy,” are you necessarily productive? Yes, it’s important to get things done, but even more important is delivering results. So slow down and evaluate before you act.

Another thing that will help you in the coming year is single-tasking. Multi-tasking is a waste of time; brain science has proven that people can focus on only one task at a time. You know what happens when you multi-task—you perform all tasks in a mediocre manner instead of exceeding at one task. 

How are you at building relationships? Do you talk to coworkers and peers about their interests outside of work, or are you all business all the time? All business is a relationship business, and people who forge strong relationships are winners. Yes, there are people who need to keep the machines running, but they, too, need to build relationships to get things done quickly and efficiently. People like to work with people they like. No one wants to work with a jerk, and no one will go out of their way to help a jerk. So get to know people and be genuine.

Challenge the status quo. That is, are there better, more efficient ways for you to work? Can you optimize the processes at your company? Can you do a creative advertising campaign, unlike anything your company has ever done before? Are there ideas for new products/solutions that can solve market problems? Look at what you’ve done and what your team and your company have done in the past and think of ways to do things differently. Maybe the files have always been arranged from Z-A, but it would be more efficient to organize them from A-Z. 

Best wishes to you and yours in the New Year! I hope that 2022 will bring us all health, happiness, and prosperity.