How To Revitalize Your Career In 2017

How To Revitalize Your Career In 2017 With 2016 behind you, it’s time to get your mojo for the new year off to a good start. Right now is the best time to plan how you are going to build momentum and keep your stamina up. Don’t just have a few resolutions, make some solid plans to move the needle. Let’s take a look at 7 basic strategies to make 2017 your favorite yearâ€"the year when you make your biggest career breakthroughs. 7 Ways to Recharge Your Career Assuming you have a chosen career, the question you can ask is how to take it to the next level. Here are seven steps to take to create a clear and effective plan of action: Evaluate how last year went. Look at the past year with detachment. What did you learn from both your failures and successes? Although you may have started out last year with high hopes and achieved some remarkable breakthroughs, it’s now time to re-evaluate the year to get clear about why you don’t have what you want already. If you are not where you want to be, it’s because of some limiting circumstances. Begin by making a list of things that are not working and come up with possible solutions. For instance, you may need to attend more industry conferences but don’t like air travel for health reasons. Perhaps, you have deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which makes air travel uncomfortable because of the altitude. One solution is to wear womens compression products  like compression socks to improve blood flow. Another solution might be to research ways to keep your feet healthy and comfortable. Here’s another example: Things may not be working out for you because you lack specific skills to advance in your career. In this case, the solution might be to get a mentor or take classes to increase your knowledge and skills. So whatever the issue, understand that there is also a solution for it. Decide what it is that you want. You must get a very clear picture of what it is that you aspire to achieve. Without a vision, you will simply repeat what you did last year. Make a list of goals for the year and break it up into sub-goals. If your goal is to get more clients for your business, a subgoal might be to review business networking opportunities in your city. Create a plan. Now that you know what you want and what’s in the way of achieving the success you desire, you need a clear set of directions to follow. You need a plan. Figure out the best way to achieve your goals based on what you now know. As you learn more, your plans will change. Get clear on your marketing message. Regardless of the type of business you’re in, marketing is an essential aspect of it. For marketing, you need a clear message. What is it that you or your business does? How are you different from others in your line of business? What can you do to increase the value of your business and how can you communicate it? Understand your target audience. Unless you know what your market wants from you, you can’t deliver the goods. An intimate knowledge of your target audience will help you communicate in a way that they respond to. It will also help you develop the products or services that they will buy. Without a clear understanding of your target audience, it’s a hit-or-miss issue. Outline your important milestones on a calendar. Setting goals and making plans is a good start, but you have to be able to project where you want to be at a certain time. Suppose, for instance, you want to get 500 new clients to subscribe to your online newsletter. After you decide how you’re going to do it, try to estimate how long it will take you to achieve that number. Perhaps, you want to hit a certain income level. Again, decide how you will do it and then estimate when you will be able to do it. By setting a deadline, you will avoid procrastinating on it. It doesn’t really matter if you don’t meet the deadlineâ€"the main thing is that you’re moving forward. If you don’t meet the deadline, then just set another when the time comes. Figure out what it will cost in time and money to achieve your goals. There is always a price to pay when you want to move from where you are now to where you want to be. ·   You may have to pay the price in terms of study, learning skills that will increase your market value. ·   You may have to pay the price in terms of a personality shift, becoming more outgoing and better at maintaining positive relationships. ·   You may have to pay the price in terms of effort, learning strategies to increase your productivity. Besides paying the price of effort, you will probably have to spend money to improve your career, tooâ€"attend conferences, take courses, or try out new marketing initiatives. Figure out your budget or how you will raise the money. By getting clear on the price you are willing to pay upfront, you will be ready to move ahead. Use these 7 steps to set a different chain of events in motion for 2017. . Image credits. Main.   Planning.     Progress.