A new year is a perfect time to make resolutions in every aspect of your life, including your career. While most of the New Year’s resolution buzz tends to revolve around Dry January, diets like Whole30, or creating a new exercise habit, you spend most of your daylight hours at work — why wouldn’t you come up with some goals to reach new heights with your career?
Maybe you set professional goals for 2025; maybe you didn’t. Regardless, there’s no time like the present. In the spirit of a more fruitful 2026, here are 26 New Year’s resolutions to advance your career this year whether you’re looking for goals as a manager or an active job seeker. They include examples of the most popular New Year’s work resolutions, but also some suggested professional development goals from HR executives — because they know what’s up with career advancement!
26 New Year’s Career Resolutions to Make 2026 Your Best Professional Year Yet
1. Take a more active role in your career.
When it comes to career advancement goals, it’s easy to become complacent, especially if you like your job — or even if your job is just “fine.” If you’re not sure where to start with your career resolutions for 2026, simply commit to taking more action. Spend an afternoon creating a list of short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals for your career or brainstorming some ideas for professional development you’d like to pursue in 2026. Or start prepping data to ahead of asking for a raise in the new year.
2. Plan more time for creative work.
We schedule meetings and even networking lunches, but rarely schedule time to simply…play. Add a meeting to your calendar each week where you spend an hour brainstorming creative ideas for your company or exploring an area of expertise that isn’t exactly in your wheelhouse.
3. Make a resolution to take a leadership position at work or in your free time.
Speak to your boss about taking ownership of a Q1 project, apply for a promotion, or find a way to take an active leadership role after-hours by doing volunteer work. The goal is to spend 2026 getting more comfortable with leadership and everything that entails. These skills are transferable across future roles and career paths, so they’re worth pursuing.
4. Spearhead an employee wellness program at your office.
Many companies are struggling to figure out how to retain their employees, especially if they’re competing with remote work opportunities. Consider pitching a wellness program to your leadership team, or volunteer to send an employee survey to gauge which employee wellness initiatives most appeal to your team. There are countless wellness programs out there for all budgets and industries.
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5. Learn a new skill.
A classic and one of the most popular New Year’s career resolutions of all time — yet still relevant for 2026! It never hurts to learn a new skill. There are tons of career education resources out there (try Hubspot or Skillshare), but when in doubt: why not learn Spanish? It’s a language that will benefit you ihn countless industries, especially in the U.S.
6. Make a career networking resolution.
It can feel awkward at first, but the more you network, the better you’ll feel about it. Commit to asking a colleague or professional connection out to coffee once per month. Or set an alarm in your phone to reach out to former colleagues on LinkedIn monthly. You’d be surprised how far you’ll get. And fun fact: 70-80% of jobs are never posted publicly; instead, they go to internal candidates or employee referrals.
7. Embrace “passive” job searching.
Even if you love your job, a great career is built on staying open. Sign up for a couple of job boards (you might like ours at Star Staffing), or add a couple of job alerts to your LinkedIn account. This way, you’ll never feel “out of touch” if you need to start actively searching for whatever reason.
8. Update your resume and LinkedIn profile regularly.
Similar to career resolution #7, why not commit to keeping your resume and LinkedIn profile up to date for all of 2026? It’s much easier to add new skills and accomplishments as you go rather than trying to remember five years from now what you did way back when.
9. Set a goal for getting a raise in 2026.
You knew it was coming. Raises are always on the mind in a new year, especially after the increased expenses of the holiday season. That said, we’re not suggesting you walk into your boss’s office first thing on January 2. There’s an art to asking for a raise and to negotiation. Spend your January setting aside time to plan your ask, gather data to support it, and prepare to come in with a no-fail ask.
10. If you’re a leader, commit to getting better at making transparent goals.
Whether you work in HR, are an executive running a large team, or are a team manager, the more transparent your goals are, the better your team will perform in 2026. Take stock of how you currently set and track goals, and consider ways to improve the process to build buy-in across the team.
11. Give a coworker a compliment every day.
Want more of a feel-good career resolution for 2026? How about doling out genuine compliments, five days per week? We have a huge list of coworker compliments right here, plus compliments leaders can (and should) give to employees to help guide you. You’d be surprised how much better your relationships will get if you take the time to call out the great things your work colleagues are doing.
12. Resolve to become a better listener.
Active listening is an art. Read up on how to listen more fully, then put it into practice daily.
13. Be kinder to yourself — at work and in life.
Would you describe yourself as a perfectionist? Do you often criticize yourself internally for how you handled a meeting or work situation? Why not take some of the pressure off in 2026? Chances are, you’re doing better than you think, and negative self-talk is doing no favors for your career.
14. Explore a side gig.
Something you’ve been considering trying for years? 2026 might be the year to start a side hustle. Giving yourself the opportunity to try something new has an added benefit: it might inspire your regular work by encouraging you to think outside the box.
15. Negotiate additional vacation days.
Is your company on a tight budget or a raise freeze? Many people don’t realize you can negotiate other perks. This year, why not try for a few extra days of vacation? After all, rest is the best prevention for work burnout.
16. Request more regular feedback from your boss.
A slight riff off the “take a more active role in your career” New Year’s resolution. Annual performance reviews are great and all (hopefully your company has them!), but you should check in with your boss to request feedback and support more often than that. Start by setting a goal to schedule a quarterly meeting with them.
17. Max out your 401(k).
If you’re not doing it, 2026 is the year you change that.
18. Review your employee benefits in detail.
Do you actually know what your company offers? Many companies offer benefits such as access to a financial planner or a rebate for commuting by public transit. Review your benefits package, especially if you haven’t looked into it since getting hired, and see if there’s anything you could be taking advantage of. Check the benefits included with your health plan, too — some offer free acupuncture or even a discount for logging 10,000 steps a day in your step counter.
19. Make a (self-) promotion plan.
Write down a few of the job titles that you could move into if you were promoted at your company. Then, search for job listings on LinkedIn or Indeed to see what skills that higher position requires. What are you missing? Spend the first six months of 2026 filling those skills gaps, then ask for a promotion to end 2026 in a new role.
20. Organize your digital life.
How messy is your inbox? What about your desktop? For 2026, make a career resolution to get things in order. Not sure where to start? Here’s a guide to digital decluttering from none other than Marie Kondo’s team.
21. Make a career resolution to cut down on procrastinating.
Easier said than done, but there are numerous ways to get incrementally better at your procrastination habit. Start with this guide from Harvard Business Review.
22. Or make a resolution to cut down on multitasking.
Turns out, “monotasking” or “single-tasking” is better for your mind and the quality of work you create.
23. Start a work journaling practice.
Spend the last 5-10 minutes of your workday writing down what you accomplished, what didn’t go as well as you planned, and three things you were grateful for today. Often, we’re in such a rush to head home that we don’t give our minds a chance to process the day’s events. This simple process can profoundly affect your happiness at work — and provide guidance on what you’d like to do tomorrow.
24. If you’re job searching, treat it like a job.
Schedule time on your calendar to update your resume, send inquiries, or review job postings. You should also set goals for yourself, just like you would at a job! Doing this keeps you motivated, but it also trains your brain to treat the job search with the same respect you would a day job — and keeps you in the habit of working on a schedule until you find something new! By the way, if you’re looking for a job in California, check out our job board for companies hiring now!
25. Find a mentor or become a mentor — or both!
Mentorship is one of the most powerful ways to grow your career. If you don’t have a mentor at your office (or at another company in your field), now’s the time to find one. Look to people you admire at work and consider asking them to grab coffee or lunch to hear more about their careers. And if you’re a more senior member of your team, how can you mentor someone this year? It’s an incredibly rewarding experience for both parties—and well worth it to connect and build community within your company!
26. Try one new productivity or habit-building technique a month.
It’s so easy to read a list like this, love multiple ideas, then leave the article and never think about it again. Set a goal to try one new idea or hack a month (or even a week) for the next year. You can even bookmark this article and set an alarm in your phone to come back to it! Or keep it simple and start January with the Pomodoro Technique, a crowd favorite that’s easy to implement.
We hope you enjoyed these career resolutions for 2026 (or any New Year really!). Best of luck over these next 365 days. And if your goal for the new year involves either finding a new job or hiring a new team in California, you’re in luck — that’s Star Staffing’s specialty.