Want to land your dream job in 2017? Last week I was interviewed for an article in Jobs2Careers and asked, "What is the #1 New Year's resolution you should make this year and actually keep?"
For me, the answer is simple. I invest in myself every single week.
Since I have a full-time corporate job, as well as my own successful career coaching practice helping others land their dream job, I don't have time to make resolutions that I'll never keep. But this is ONE new year's resolution that I make (and achieve) every year.
Just as financial advisers tell us to pay ourselves first in order to have a strong financial portfolio, I make it a habit to invest in myself every week to ensure I have a strong sense of purpose, fulfillment and get closer to achieving my personal mission.
If you're not sure where or how to invest in yourself, then ask yourself these three questions...
1. What's the next thing you want to learn?
Block out time on your calendar to conduct research, read, learn, watch TED videos, or talk to others. Learning something new can deepen an area of expertise, change the way you think and even take you in a whole new direction.
2. Who inspires you?
Connect yourself to those who motivate and energize you. Offer to help them with a project or support them in their personal mission. They will become your greatest champions in overcoming fear, charting new territory and realizing your dreams.
3. Where do you ultimately want to go in your career (or at least the next stop on your career journey)?
Put a stake in the ground and envision the kind of work you want to be doing and the type of environment and organization where you want to work.
Give yourself time and space to answer each of these questions. See what unfolds. We're not meant to stay in the same job forever. We're meant to morph, leap, fall, stretch, grow and bounce. When you invest your time and energy every week in these three areas, your career will find its natural flow and become effortless.
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Sherri Thomas is a leading Career Coach, Huffiington Post career columnist and President of Career Coaching 360 (www.CareerCoaching360.com). She has helped thousands of executives and professionals change, re-brand, advance and take their career in a whole new direction. Her award-winning book, "The Bounce Back - personal stories and strategies to you help you bounce back higher and faster after a layoff, re-org or career setback" was named 2013 best career book by Indie Book Awards, and her first book, "Career Smart - 5 Steps to a Powerful Personal Brand" was recently on Amazon's top 10 list for personal branding books.
Sherri is sought after by the media for her career advice including the Wall St Journal, TIME Magazine, Smart Money magazine, the New York Daily Post, Investors Business Daily, and many others. She has spoken at conferences and events around the world including the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Vietnam and Kenya. She loves traveling around the world and learning about other cultures, thrives in nature, and will always encourage you to go on what she calls a life changing Kenyan safari because the 30-hour flight journey "isn't that bad."