The New Year is here and so are all our resolutions, plans and hopes for a better year. Personally, I have this love-hate relationship with New Years. There is of course the excitement of starting over; a blank page where to write a new story, exactly how we like it. But there is also that feeling that our resolutions will fade away; that our excitement will slowly but steadily decrease; that after all our comfort zone is quite comfortable, so why should we step out of it?
So how can we stick to our New Year’s resolutions? It all comes down to this: setting your intentions and committing fully to them. Sounds so very easy, but – trust me – it is not. Because changing is deeply uncomfortable, and it is an act of bravery. Not only, in order to make any change, we need to be in the right mindset to take a leap of faith, to welcome the new, to be challenged and to challenge ourselves. It is not impossible, but it requires commitment and a lot of work.
I want to share a personal experience. Two years ago, I turned 30. I wasn’t unhappy with my life, but I was comfortable. I was not doing anything out of the ordinary. My daily routine had seen no changes for quite a long time. I wasn’t unhappy. I was stuck. But one day I committed to change. And to help me get started I used a self-assessment exercise: the “Wheel of life”.
How does it work?
The Wheel of Life is divided into eight sections, each one representing one aspect of your life. You should reflect on each section and evaluate where you stand by giving a score from 0 to 10.
Let’s take one as an example, “Business/career”. How happy are you in your career? Do you feel valued? Do you think you are fulfilling your potential in your current work? If you are totally unhappy, you should rate it low – below 5; if you are ok but there is room for improvement, you can rate it higher than 5.
Once you have completed each section, you should connect all the lines within the sections, and you will notice that some are higher than others. The idea behind the Wheel of Life is that you should start working on those areas that have been rated lower, so that your life is as balanced as possible. Then you can move on all the others and work on the overall improvement of your life.
Of course, here at Project 668 we focus on career and, this year, we are pleased to launch our new project “2020 – One year to boost your career”. What are we going to do? Every month we are going to tackle a different topic connected to work and career. We will talk about the future of work, connections, balance, personal branding and so much more. We will provide you with contents, videos, tips, and we will try to organise some in-person events for those who are in Brussels. But overall, we aim at providing you with contents and tools to assess your career and hopefully boost it and shape it as the career of your dreams.
So follow us every Wednesday on our channels – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Follow the hashtag #CareerTurnaround. Let’s connect!
And from all of us, our very best wishes for the most amazing New Year!
by Federica Margheri
and Project 668 Team
P.S. If you want to make an assessment of 2019 and get ready for 2020, here is where you can download a free self-assessment booklet by the YearCompass.