Do You Have the Extra Oomph to Make Things Happen in 2017

Do You Have the Extra Oomph to Make Things Happen in 2017 January the time of year when we push the restart button and do all of the things that we promised wed do brde year but didntIts a little bit clich, isnt it?Have you ever written down your goals in January and then reviewed them later in the year to see how many of them you actually achieved? I have. I wont say that Ive always completed allof them, but generally, I do manage to cross a fair number off. I manage this because I regularly review my long-term strategic plan regarding where I want my life and career/business to go.Without long-term planning, all you can do is live day to day and hand to mouth. Short-term planning generally amounts to a short-term job or career. In order to guarantee yourself a lifelong position, you need to set yourself a long-term strategy as to how youre going to get noticed and how youre going to get companies seekingyou out.In the old days, youcould just be good at your job and that was enough. But what use is it being good at your job if nobody outside of the four walls of your company knows how great you are? If you want to take your career to the next level, youneed to break the four walls and get companies chasing youNepotism and guaranteed tenures are gone. In todays fast-changing world, none of us are exempt from cuts. What are you doing to guarantee that if the worse were to happen (hopefully not) and you were to lose your job you could almost fall into another one right away?Make Yourself the Go-To Person in Your FieldWith nearly all recruitment happening electronically to some extent, how confident are you about how you would come across if somebody were to Google your name? If youre employed in an academic profession or a senior management position, what does your online biography say about you? Would you take advice from yourself if you were somebody whose opinion of you was based only on what they saw on your LinkedIn profile?I deally, no matter which profession youre in, you should be working toward creating a really expert and professional presence. You need to be seen as the go-to person within your industry, field, or niche. How are you going to get noticed by the right people the key decision makers and influencers?No More ExcusesWe expect miracles to happen in the new year, but just because you set yourself a few resolutions does not mean that this year will be any different from the last one unless you make it differentIf you dont take action now, you will be in the same place this time next year, waiting for things to materializeinstead of going out to get them for yourselfAs we all know, you only get out what you put inEveryone has reasons for not doing the things they want to do. Sometimes, life just gets in the way but when life gives you lemons, you have to make lemonade and be done with itMy message is that resolutions can happen today, they can happen tomorrow, and they can happen anytime d uring the year. We all like the symbolic fresh start of January, but the fact is that it doesnt matter how many resolutions you make or when you make them. What matters is if youkeep them.Start thinking right now about your long-term career plans. There are lots of experts out there whowill offer advice, but do remember that many of them are just giving you information it is up to you toput that information into practice. If it is transformation that youre looking for, you will need to invest time, energy, and money into making it happen.Susan Burke is an award-winning global careers coach. You can connect with Susan viaLinkedInandgrab a complimentary copy of her book,Get Companies Chasing You,directly from her website.