New Year's Resolutions for Career Changers

It's time for New Year's resolutions again. Rather than basing your resolutions on an inventory of regrets, may I suggest a more positive way to get started?

Before you begin listing the "must do" items for next year, first think about where you are and what you've accomplished over the past year. Here are some ideas to stimulate your thinking:

1. What have I let go of or completed?
2. What have I learned?
3. What is better now than it was a year ago?
4. What do I feel really good about?
5. What positive changes have I made over the last year?
6. How can I do more of the above?

When you're ready to start setting goals for 2004, think about these questions:

1. What do I fear the most? How would my career change process be different if this fear disappeared?
2. What do I need to let go of or complete now?
3. What am I pretending that I don't know?
4. What am I tolerating?
5. What "shoulds" have I placed on myself?
6. Are my intentions different from the results I'm getting?
7. Is my goal too big or too small?
8. Am I being honest with myself about my career change? With others?
9. What do I really want most? How will I feel when I have it?
10. How does my career change fit into being my best?
11. When I make the change, will it be my life or someone else's idea of what my life should be?
12. Am I living in the present, the future or the past most of the time?
13. Is my attitude about a particular challenge preventing me from seeing all the options?
14. Has procrastination affected my career change? Am I willing to stop doing that?
15. What's the best career decision I made this year? What would be the best one for next year?
16. Who has more information about the change I seek?
17. What other help do I need? Who might assist me?
18. What self-limiting beliefs are holding me back?
19. What judgments about myself have me stuck?
20. What agreements with myself will I honor this year?
21. What possibilities have I been ignoring? Which will I start pursuing?
22. What really matters now?
23. What am I willing to start doing right now to accomplish my career change in 2004?

Wishing you great success in 2004!