The Holiday season allows each of us to get away from work and spend valuable time with our family and friends. It is a time of celebrating and reflecting, as we look back on the past year and look forward to the year ahead. A time-honoured tradition that is embraced with considerable enthusiasm is the ritual of identifying and pursuing our New Year's resolutions.

Although the most popular resolutions involve health or lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, exercising more, or eliminating/reducing the intake of harmful substances (e.g., cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, etc.), some can be related to our professional lives as well. In particular, many individuals step back and think about any changes they would like to make for the upcoming year. When it comes to implementing these changes, the same strategies we employ to make our personal goals a success are also applicable to those we set from a professional point of view.

The following explores the steps each of us can take to achieve our personal and professional goals for 2009. In particular, it borrows from research exploring 'what works' in keeping the more traditional New Year's resolutions and applies these findings to a professional environment:

1) Believe in yourself – Many people discuss the importance of positive thinking, and this tenet also applies to our New Year's resolutions. More specifically, recent research by Mukhopadhyay and Johar (2005) found that individuals who had possessed a high degree of self-efficacy (e.g., I can stop being angry, I just need to try harder) were significantly more successful in attaining their resolutions than those who possessed a lower level of self-efficacy (e.g., I cannot do anything about my anger, I inherited it from my parents, etc.). This is not surprising, because people who believe they have some control over their situation can be expected to work harder and longer towards the attainment of their goals.

2) Don't just dream about it, do something – Unfortunately, many people set goals but do not think about what needs to be done to achieve them. For example, if we set a goal to be less angry at the office, but we have been behaving this way for 30 years, we may not even know where to begin. This is exactly what Mukhopadhyay and Johar (2005) identified as a barrier to goal attainment. More specifically, they found that individuals who spent time actually researching the most effective methods for achieving their goals were more successful than those that did not engage in this activity. So, take a course, identify relevant reading material or engage with a professional coach to tackle these professional issues. Do not assume it will just happen because you want it to.

3) You have to really want it – Not surprisingly, one of the major determinants of whether or not a desired goal is achieved is the degree to which an individual wants to change. I remember the psychologist and light bulb joke:

Q: "How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?"

A: Just one..... but the light bulb has to really want to change

This makes sense because, at the end of the day, just as in other areas of our lives, we are in control of the decisions we make. If we are trying to lose weight, only we can take the necessary steps to achieve this goal.

From a professional development standpoint, the same holds true in that individuals have to believe that this change (e.g., becoming less angry) is desirable for them. If they do not truly see its advantages (e.g., deep down, they see anger as a positive influence for their professional careers), how successful can they expect to be?

4) Avoid 'all or none' goals – One of the major problems people encounter when setting goals is making the assertion that they will never engage in a certain behaviour again. This is especially problematic when it relates to strongly engrained behaviour. For example, if someone has difficulties in controlling/expressing their anger, it is unrealistic for them to make the statement "I will never get angry again," as their chances of accomplishing this goal are remote.

As is the case with most human behaviour, this can be linked to other aspects of our personality. More specifically, individuals who have a low level of self-efficacy and make this absolute statement will likely react to a setback by surmising that they do not have the capacity to stop being angry. On the other hand, individuals with a high level of self-efficacy would conclude that the reasons for their setback was that they did not try work hard enough and so will commit to increasing their effort to improve this behaviour in the future.

A more reasonable goal may be to identify the triggers that lead to getting angry and then taking steps to minimize their influence on the behaviour. Rather than setting ourselves up for failure by embarking an all-or-none approach, we could set certain limits on our behavioural change.

5) Expect to fail – No, this is not a misprint. Professional (and personal) change is a process. It is virtually impossible to 'stop cold turkey.' Therefore, we need to build up our coping strategies to deal with the challenges we will inherently face. More specifically, if we experience a setback, we need to accept that this is part of the process and choose to learn from the experience, adjusting our behaviour accordingly for future situations.

6) Track Your Progress – An important component of moving forward is to track your progress. This way, you can see where things stand at present and where you need to go to get where you want to be. It can also help you articulate a road map for success to chart the steps necessary to reach your goal.

7) Tell Someone – One of the most powerful strategies individuals can use to attain their goals is to tell someone what their goal is and, ideally, involve them in tracking your progress (see #6). Considerable research has found that certain strategies significantly increase the likelihood of accomplishing a goal. While telling yourself that you will accomplish a goal is an important first step, the chances of actually following through are diminished if this is the only step you take A better strategy is to write it down. Committing your thoughts to paper provides a visual reminder of what you are trying to accomplish that can be referred back to as necessary. Finally, publicly stating your goal to someone other than yourself maximizes your chances for success, as now you are accountable to someone else. This has been shown to be an invaluable strategy for weight loss, gym attendance, healthy eating, etc. There is no more powerful motivational vehicle than "phoning a friend."

In closing, there are various methods we can employ when making our resolutions for 2009. Professional (and personal) change is a process that requires considerable time and effort to move things forward. However, considerable research suggests adopting the above strategies can be incredibly helpful in terms of realizing your goals. Finding and pursuing our core goals is one of the most satisfying activities we can do. So, have fun, be bold and go tell someone what you are going to achieve this year! It will be worth it.

Wishing you all the best in 2009!

Craig Dowden, Ph.D.

Managing Director

André Filion & Associates - Ottawa

(613) 230-7023

André Filion & Associates is an industrial psychology and career management firm that assists organizations in leadership development, selection support, succession planning, and career transition/outplacement services. Through Verity Filion, our national career management company, we provide bilingual services to clients across Canada including locations in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Mississauga, Québec City, Montreal, and Halifax.

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