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 2022; maybe you didn’t. Regardless, there’s no time like the present. In the spirit of a more fruitful 2023, here are 23 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!
23+ New Year’s Career Resolutions to Make 2023 Your Best Professional Year Yet
1. Take a more active role in you 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,'” says Nicole Smartt, author of From Receptionist to Boss (and CEO of Star Staffing!). “If you’re not sure where to start with your career resolutions for 2023, simply start by committing to taking more action.”
Smartt recommends spending 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 2023. Or start gathering data to prepare for asking for a raise.
2. Commit to 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 you 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 2023 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 2023 getting more comfortable with being a leader and everything that entails. These skills are transferrable to all future jobs and career paths, so they’re worth pursuing.
4. Spearhead an employee wellness program at your office.
2022 was the year of “the great resignation,” so many companies are struggling to figure out how to keep the employees they have — including you! Consider pitching a wellness program to your leadership team, or volunteer to send out an employee survey to take stock of what employee wellness ideas most appeal to your team. There are countless wellness programs out there for all budgets and industries.
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 2023! 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.
Networking: always a bit intimidating. But the more you do it, 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 going to someone internal or employee referrals.
7. Embrace “passive” job searching.
Even if you love your job, a great career is built on keeping your eyes 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” should you find yourself needing to start actively job 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 2023? 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 2023.
You knew it was coming. “But I’m not suggesting you just walk into your boss’s office first thing January 1!” says Smartt. “There’s an art to asking for a raise and to negotiation.” Instead, Smartt recommends setting aside time to plan your ask, gather data to back you up, and otherwise prepare to come in with a no-fail ask.
10. If you’re a leader, commit to getting better about making transparent goals.
Whether you work in HR, are an exec running a massive team, or are a team manager, the more transparent your goals are, the better your team will do in 2023. Take stock of how you currently set and track goals, and consider ways to improve the process to get more buy-in from everyone on the team.
11. Give a coworker a compliment, every day.
Want more of a feel-good career resolution for 2023? 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 on a daily basis.
13. Be kinder to yourself — at work and in life.
Would you describe yourself as a perfectionist? Are you often internally criticizing yourself for how you handled a meeting or work situation? Why not take some of the pressure off in 2023? Chances are, you’re doing better than you think, and negative self-talk is doing no favors for your career.
14. Launch a side gig.
Something you’ve been considering trying for years? 2023 just might be the year to make a resolution to start a side hustle. “It’s pretty antiquated for employers to tell employees they’re not allowed to work on something after-hours,” says Smartt. “Especially given the research that shows that working on something creative on the site increases employee fulfillment.” If you’re an employer or hiring manager, consider introducing a side-gig-friendly policy at your work.
15. Negotiate additional vacation days.
Is your company on a tight budget or a raise freeze? Many people don’t realize you can sometimes negotiate other perks. This year, why not try to get an extra few 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 be checking in with your boss to request feedback and support more often. Start with setting a goal to schedule a meeting with them quarterly.
17. Max out your 401(k).
If you’re not doing it, 2023 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 taking public transit to the office. Review yours, especially if you haven’t looked into them since getting hired, and see if there’s anything you could be taking advantage of. Check the benefits included with your health plan, too — “I recently realized that by hooking up my phone to my health insurance account, I get an Amazon gift card for up to $100 for every 10,000 steps I take,” says Kit Warchol, Star’s copywriter and content strategist, “Who knew? I used that money to buy some holiday presents this year.”
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 2023 filling those skills gaps, then asking for a promotion to end 2023 in a new role.
20. Organize your digital life.
How messy is your inbox? What about your desktop? For 2023, 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 work day 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 give you guidance for what you’d like to do tomorrow.
We hope you enjoyed these career resolutions for 2023 (or any New Year really!). Best of luck over these next 365 days. And if your goal for 2023 involves either finding a new job or hiring a new team in California, you’re in luck — that’s Star Staffing’s specialty.