New Year, New Career: Setting Resolutions for Professional Growth

Another may say, “Why bother. It’s a waste of time to even think about them let alone go after them.” Look at where they are headed on the road of life. I suspect, they are not doing much to “get ahead” (whatever that means to you or them).

I have often been told, “You’re just making excuses. Stop that and you’ll be fine.” There is likely some truth to that too. Don’t ask me about losing weight – a perennial goal of mine.

I am going to approach this topic by sharing a part of my journey. 

I had a very successful 15-year career in the corporate aviation industry starting shortly after college graduation. At the time, I was blessed with several mentors and professional advisors who were looking out for me and guiding me to be my best and most financially successful self. During those 15 years, I made several job changes with increasing responsibility, differing duties around sales, and significantly increasing compensation. I thought I had it made at 35 years old.

Then something changed. As the proverbial saying implies, that fecal matter that was my success had floated to the top and I had apexed. It became painfully clear my days in aviation were growing short. I was no longer getting personal satisfaction in the industry. I was not meeting all my key performance indicators (KPIs), stress levels were mounting, my spousal relationship was negatively impacted, and my health was beginning to go in a bad direction.

I needed to make a change!

After some soul-searching, time with a therapist for depression, and work with a career coach, I began to formulate a new life path and strategy. They, along with my mentors helped me to see the vision of what I would like to do or be when I neared retirement 30 years in the future and helped me find the path to make that a reality.

What is or was that goal? To become a leader in helping people improve their lives through educating them – to become a college educator.

I had a VISION for the future! That is something I can build towards.

What is your future vision? If you dream today, where do you see yourself in 20 years, 10 years, 5 years, next year? With that vision you can start down a path today that will get you there. This was a deeply contemplative and soul-searching process. I had to be willing to look into the very core of my being, my essence, to find that which was truly foundational in what makes me tick.

I recognized several major steps I needed to take:

1. Get a job in the higher education industry! Frankly, any job that would use the skills I already had.

2. Become a thought leader and business leader in that industry.

3. Work towards an advanced degree.

I transitioned from an aviation sales role to a higher education sales role – first in admissions, then in career services including, within 1 year, managing the department. 

After 8 years, I needed to re-access. Was I really interested and motivated to get the Masters or Doctorate degree? Not really. So, I adjusted my vision. 

I now saw myself becoming a career development professional, a career coach. It met my needs to be an educator and to help people grow. And it played into my desire for self-determination, no longer relying on a company or “boss” to define when and how I would be successful. 

I took a job in workforce development and a couple of jobs in adult continuing education while starting my own coaching business. These roles gave me a breadth of knowledge and expertise to complement my knowledge of the education sector and career development industry. 

Now, here I am publishing my second book, building a successful career coaching practice, excited to get to work every morning with far less stress than in any other job I have held.

I strongly urge you to stop every five (5) years and assess your career path. And then review that vision and the path you are on every year to make course corrections. In doing so, you give yourself the opportunity to find your life’s passion or purpose – as the Japanese say, your Ikigai.

My story is not unique for the path I chose or the steps I took to get here. What is unique is the depth of personal understanding and long-term joy that I found in looking at my professional goals or resolutions. It is now a personal ritual for me to review my year every November with an eye towards my future, set new goals and objectives for the coming year and chart my course to my life’s passion.

I decided long ago that my life was too short not to live it with the greatest of love, the greatest of joy, the best of health, and the greatest of passion. So, when I suggest that you too should consider your new goals and direction for the New Year. I am asking you to do as I have done and continue to do every year – Envision your Ikigai, your life’s purpose, and chart a course to make it happen.

It will be my greatest satisfaction if I can help guide you on that journey.