How’s Your Work Working Out for You in the New Year?

I used to work in the fitness business and January was the month that made up for the rest of the sad, sorry year. The calendar naturally tuned people to the desire to get fit, motivating a population of stuffing-stuffed folks into stuffing themselves into gym clothes and then stuffing themselves into the gym to Just Do It.
New Year’s resolutions aren’t just for workout routines though, and they aren’t just for resolutions that require commitments that feel unfun (like going full-on Paleo when you still have some of those crazy-good peppermint brownie Ghiradelli squares left your cupboard). The flipping of the calendar page from December to January can act as a catalyst to look at another key area of your life that might not feel so healthy: your career.

So, speaking of workouts, how is your career working out for you? Does it feel healthy, or decidedly unfit? Does the idea of the workweek ahead make you feel anxious on Sunday afternoons? Does your workday leave you feeling lethargic (and not in that good way, like the pleasing fatigue of a job well done)? Does the fantasy of escaping your current job pop up a little too often, even if you’re not sure where you’d even escape to? You’re not alone.

We’ve been fielding more calls and emails than usual over the last week from people looking for help to figure out what to do next with their careers, and we know it’s because we just happen to be in the midst of a naturally occurring trigger point for change (2018 and all its promise of what the new year can offer). Is the earth’s annual orbit of the sun motivating you, too, to start Doing Something About Work*? Or perhaps one of the other motivators in our super-scientific chart below?

It doesn’t matter what the thing is that motivates you to look at what’s going on in your career, it just matters that you do something about it. Why not ride the January wave? And if you are the resolution type, then resolve to take a good hard look at how work is fitting into your life this year– whatever that might mean for you. Make it spectacular.

* Doing Something About Work refers to a wide-ranging spectrum from “I love it here! And wonder if I should start thinking about my next promotion?” to “I hate it here so much! And I wonder what I ever did to deserve this job?”