STARTING THE YEAR WITH A PLAN FOR YOUR CAREER!

By Kimberly Williams

This is the time of year when we contemplate our New Year's Resolutions.  We resolve to get our finances in order.  We promise to exercise more.  We make up our minds to pray more.  Despite our best efforts, these resolutions fall by the wayside before we see the first sign of spring.  I believe I know the problem and how to resolve it.

       Seven years ago, my friend, Angela, was a copy editor for a company that published business related books.  She read manuscripts to ensure the authors had dotted every “i” and crossed every “t.”  She hated her job.  It bored her to tears.  Worse yet, it would not help her achieve her long-term career aspiration to write for magazines.

       It was 1998 when our small group of friends decided to make “determinations” instead of resolutions.  Angela determined to pursue her dream to become a writer.  After making that determination, she created a plan of action.  It involved a great deal of work, but was relatively simple. She followed 4 steps to achievement:

  ü  Plan purposefully.  We are guilty of making resolutions, but not enacting a plan to carry them out.  We release our resolutions into the universe and hope they come back to us accomplished!  More often than not, they simply float around in the ozone until we pluck them out of the sky for the next year’s list..       When you make your determination, think about what success will look and feel like.  Create a realistic plan, which includes short-term and intermediate goals so that you check your progress along the way.  Write it down!

  ü  Prepare prayerfully.  Keep in mind that you are not in it alone.  Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 5 & 6 say, “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

  ü       Proceed positively.  Implement every step of your plan with the certainty of success! If you temporarily miss the mark, readjust your plan and move ahead.

       I recall Angela’s first job as the beauty editor for Black Elegance magazine.  We all teased her because the magazine was cheesy and even though she’s a beautiful woman, “beauty” is just not her thing.  Angela left that job weeks before the magazine went under.  Her plan was temporarily sidetracked, but a better opportunity awaited! It was at this time that she first met Susan Taylor and began writing for Essence magazine.

  ü  Pursue persistently.  My grandmother is a child of the depression era. She and her counterparts are no strangers to hard work.  Consider all of the grandparents who raised their own children and who are now tirelessly raising their grandchildren, too.  They would tell us to “keep our nose to the grindstone.”  In other words, work harder, longer and smarter.

       Revisit your written plan regularly to make sure you're on track for success.  Angela had many other positions following the first with Black Elegance.  The one consistent theme was long hours and hard work!

       Two months ago, Angela exceeded her original determination to write for magazines when she became the Editor-In-Chief for Essence magazine.   She would be the first to say that if she could accomplish such a grand determination, so can you.

       So, this year – trash your New Year's Resolutions!  Create at least one determination with a long-term plan of action.  And remember, if you have accomplished all that you have planned for yourself, you have not planned enough!

       God Bless you and Happy New Year! n