Are You on Track for Professional Success?

When was the last time you stopped to think about and acknowledged your personal and professional achievements and successes? How would you like to be able to stay focused and motivate yourself throughout the year, especially during challenging times?

Acknowledging Your Successes

The end of the year is a great time to assess how much you have achieved in the past year and what you could do differently to achieve far greater success and fulfillment in the year ahead. By regularly giving yourself a pat on the back, you will find your motivation levels increase and you will have greater drive and determination to succeed in the face of any challenges.

Below are some quality questions you can ask yourself to give yourself feedback on the past year and to assess what you need to do differently in the year ahead. Remember that the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result. So if you are seeking better personal and professional success in the coming year than in the past year, you will need to make some changes or improvements to what you have been doing to date.

Your Self Assessment

Firstly, think about the personal and professional goals and objectives that you set for yourself this year. How would you rate your overall performance (out of 10) versus your goals and objectives? Rate each one separately and then for each one, ask yourself the following questions:

What have been your biggest successes in the past year?
What could you have done better, differently or improved?

Next consider the following:

What have you been putting off doing? Make a list of all the things you have been putting off doing in the past year. Next to each item, write down how much your procrastination has cost you in terms of personal and professional relationships, team performance, money, time, energy, focus, fulfillment, etc.
Is there anything that you could stop doing altogether that would either have a neutral or positive impact on your personal or professional life?
Is there anything that you could start doing that would have a positive impact on you, personally or professionally?
What challenges did you experience in the past year and how effectively did you deal with them?
What could you have done differently, better or improved to deal with the challenges more effectively?
What are the major positive things that you have learned from the above challenges in the past year?

Most importantly, think about:

To what extent has your career assisted you to achieve your life goals and desired lifestyle in the past year? Consider all areas of your life including the impact of your career on: your relationships with your partner, family and friends, your health, quality of sleep, energy levels, time for you, self development, finances, etc.
To what extent has your career had an adverse impact on your life goals and lifestyle? Again, consider the impact of your career on all areas of your life.
What are you going to do differently in the year ahead to address the above so that you can positively move towards your desired lifestyle?

Getting Focused

Once you review the above answers, decide your top 5 priorities for your career and life in the year ahead. Choose the strategies and actions that will make the biggest positive difference to your career and life in the coming year.

Next, set a goal for each of these strategies/actions. Make sure that your goals are specific, realistic, measurable and have a specific date by which you would like to achieve them. Then for each of your goals, put together a simple action plan of the key steps you need to take to achieve each goal, together with a date next to each step. Taking baby steps each day or week will reduce overwhelm and will have you achieving your goals before you know it.

It is important to regularly review how you are tracking versus your goals. This will assist you to change or improve on what you are doing along the way, rather than waiting until another year has passed and then wishing that you had changed things sooner. By regularly reviewing your performance, you will stay focused and motivated and will be better placed to deal with any challenges, rather than being side tracked by them. Just imagine how much faster you could achieve success in the coming year by regularly learning from any challenges, acknowledging your successes and proactively taking action towards achieving your goals.

Wishing you and your loved ones a joyous festive season and even more success and fulfiment in the new year!

Dr. Vesna Grubacevic is an author, speaker, media commentator, the founder and Performance Transformation Expert® with award-winning company, Qt. She is the creator of breakthrough behavioural change techniques, holds a PhD, a BEc and has over 35 years’ business experience, including working directly with CEOs, senior executives and their teams to assist them to create exceptional results. Her Amazon best-selling book, Stop Sabotaging Your Confidence, has also been gifted to Hollywood and Australian award winners, nominees, hosts and celebrities. For additional free resources please visit www.qttransformation.com