The New Year is always filled with tips for a fresh start for your career.  But, what if you are not in the mood for all of the wholesome advice coming your way at this time of year?  What if you are fed up with your situation, but an artificial date is no reason to believe that things will get any better? What if you just felt like complaining and were allowed to vent about everything you don’t like about your work or lack of it?

Maybe that’s a healthy way to start the year.  Let all of those frustrations, all of that pent up negativity, just come out, and then see if you can clear it out of your system and start afresh.

Here’s an alphabet of bad emotions you might be feeling. Join me, and find some others, and let’s get them out of the way. Perhaps you feel:

Angry – with your boss, colleagues, family, job, the economy or yourself

Belligerent –  your worst self might emerge from boredom or frustration 

Crabby and Confused – about what to do next, where to place your attention

Depressed, Disappointed or Disillusioned – maybe you need professional help especially if there is no real reason for you to be so low

Enervated – and down in the dumps especially about your work

Fearful – of the effort changes will take and of the knocks and bumps along the way

Gripey – during an absence of gratitude, confidence and optimism; nothing is good enough

Hopeless or Half alive – because you are so bored, unenthusiastic and unmotivated (Where is the action, stimulation, drive and purpose you once felt?)

Impotent – to do anything to change, and Irrelevant – as though life is passing you by

Jinxed – maybe you have suffered some bad luck you fear won’t go away

Kicking yourself – for things you did you wish you hadn’t or things you could have done but didn’t

Low in self esteem and Lacking in confidence – without which nothing can really change or get off the ground

Mad – at yourself or at the world

No – enthusiasm or motivation

Out of sorts and Overwhelmed – where to begin to get back in the groove?

Purposeless

Quiet – because there is no one to talk to

Redundant

Skill-less, Scratchy and Self-pitying

Technologically challenged

Underachieving, Unmotivated, Uncertain

Valueless

Wallowing – in self-doubt and inertia

X – the mystery factor: what is missing in your life?

Yearning – for something different, something better

Zero – the action you’ve taken to get yourself out of this funk; the effort you are expending on self-renewal and on building the rituals you need to get back on track; the support you have put in place; the new actions to which you are willing to commit

There.  You’ve got it out of your system.  Recognize what ever bad feelings are getting you down or getting in your way.  Name them.  Write them down.  Look them squarely in the face.  Then, put them in some kind of metaphorical container so they are no longer in a position to contaminate you, and let’s get on with the business of being productive, engaged and forward looking as the year begins.

In the coming weeks, we are going to address how you can reignite your career using the following 5-step process.  Unlike many strategic planning processes, this is not supposed to be linear, and you will be able to adapt the different pieces to your particular circumstances in any order you choose. 

Here are the key components you will learn to put in place:
1. Organize, synthesize, crystallize the different strands of your career into some clear themes.
2. Systematize. Create repeatable processes, and document templates so you are not forever reinventing the wheel, and so you behave like you are running your own business.
3. Publicize and socialize. Come to grips with social media. Spend more time figuring out how to be discoverable, and learn how to intentionally network.
4. Visualize.  Keep a single vision in front of you, and don’t get diverted, distracted and discouraged.
5. Actualize.  Make sure you do something toward the vision every day.

So, that’s our new model for change in the New Year.  I’ll provide you with the structure.  Let’s hear from you how you are making it work for you.

Fredia Woolf, Founder of Woolf Consulting, blogs about career and workplace issues.  She provides Leadership coaching and Organizational “seasoning”, spicing up Productivity, Effectiveness, Performance, Personal Engagement, and Results (PEPPER), while enhancing Strategy, Alignment, Leadership, and Teamwork (SALT).  She can be contacted at fwoolf@woolfconsulting.com.

#