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Looking Forward: Creating Goals in 2016
Janus, the two-faced Roman god, represented doorways, time, endings, and beginnings. On Tuesday, I gave you a way to acknowledge and feel pride in your accomplishments from 2015. Now, it’s time to look into the New Year and begin taking on your goals for 2016! But wait. How do you pick achievable yet important goals? How do you pick the next mountain you are going to climb and know what to pack for the trip? I can’t tell you what goal you should set your sights on—that process is entirely individual. Maybe you want to take on that project you’ve been thinking about recently. Maybe you want...
read moreLooking Backwards: Achievements in 2015
Although the Romans borrowed many deities from the Greek pantheon, the god Janus can be called particularly their own. Often thought to be the root for our month “January” (although there is some debate about this), Janus was the god of transitions, beginnings and endings. He is often depicted with two faces; one looking backwards and the other looking forwards. So, as we move into 2016 and begin to make good on our various resolutions and goals, it is important to do as Janus does and look back at all we have accomplished in 2015. Like many people, I often have difficulty measuring my own...
read moreOut with the Old, In with the New
January…the fresh start month. We welcome this time of year as a chance to wipe the slate clean and start anew. And because most of us (more than 70%) aren’t thrilled with our work, changes in our career situation often top the list of hopes in a new year. But you know how it goes: you make a list of goals, check it twice (or ten times), try to make progress, lose heart, and then you’re back to your normal, exasperating grind. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if this year things were different, and you really did make some significant advances toward your career goals? Well it turns out that most of...
read moreSetting (Realistic) Goals
Back in early November, I wrote an article about career planning tips (link here) which included a suggestion that you set goals for yourself. At Career Solutions Group, one of our focuses is on helping clients’ career plan and come up with realistic goals. Talking with a friend about it the next day, I mentioned the way I phrased that suggestion: “Set (realistic) goals. You might want to become a multi-million dollar business tycoon, but your career plan should NOT be ‘Step one: become multi-million dollar business tycoon, end of plan.’” My friend looked at me and said, very seriously,...
read moreSetting Goals, Not Burdens
Setting goals can be invigorating or destructive. A well set goal will be motivating, energizing, and achievable. A poorly set goal will be a burden, a form of self-punishment. I am reminded of two ancient stories that convey the sense of a poorly set goal. The first is Sisyphus who spent eternity pushing a rock up a hill only to have it roll down again. The second is the Danaids who carried water in jugs with holes, the water always leaked out before they reached their destination. In myth, these eternal tasks are punishments set by an outside power; the first given by Zeus, the second by a...
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