In theory, January should be a spectacular month on your career calendar. You are returning invigorated after the holidays with bubbling enthusiasm, elevated energy levels and purposeful actions around your career. You are impatient to unleash your creativity and feel great about your contribution. Yeah right! It is a far cry from reality where many people head to the office with a sullen look, depleted energy and wobbly actions. Not to mention the financial weight of surviving until pay day and the heavy debt pile from last month.

Against this backdrop of going through the same disappointing experience as last year, the ‘old’ year resolutions from the past, such as ‘I want another job’ or ‘I want to start my own business’ come hurtling back with new magnetism. Within weeks of scribbling them down on the to-do list, these well-intended resolutions go from being an irresistible idea in your mind to zero results in your life. The rat race gnaws through these resolutions – it is postponed or abandoned until January 2008. How can you break this self defeating cycle? Thought leader, Douglas T Hall pioneered the concept of a ‘protean career’ whereby the career is managed by the individual not the organisation. From experience with clients and the wider employee community, in my opinion, there comes a time in your career when you need to honestly question whether you will ever pursue what you truly want to (insert here) for the reasons that matter to you. Waiting for the ‘right’ time, situation, organisation, or bank balance to follow your passion is often a back door excuse for doing nothing. I know employees that have waited so long to change career direction, they eventually reached retirement! There are thousands of real life stories spanning centuries, cataloguing individuals that surmounted their obstacles to succeed, when will you write the first page of your story?

I suggest that you dedicate this year beyond popcorn resolutions to a 365 day campaign of emotionally reconnecting with your lost dreams, stretching your performance, upgrading your toolbox and aggressively going after what you want in your career. While you may not achieve overnight success, your working life will finally be moving in the direction of your aspirations.

Yusuf Mahomedy
http://www.worksucks.co.za