Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

Happy New Year Everyone! Welcome to 2012!

With the beginning of a new year comes the tradition of making  new year’s resolutions.

Do you make resolutions at the beginning of each year? If so, do you keep them?

New Year’s resolutions represent what we hope to do or achieve in the next year. Resolutions often reflect our desire for self-improvement or self-fulfillment.

A lot of people resolve to exercise more, eat better, quit smoking, spend more time with loved ones, or strive to enjoy every single day.

These are all great resolutions and all the best of luck to those of you who have made one of those your resolution for this year, I hope that you succeed. We often resolve to make positive changes in our personal lives, and neglect to resolve anything regarding our professional lives.

Here is a challenge for you as professional individuals in 2012:

Resolve to take part in professional development.

(Or  if you are a  business owner, resolve to help find opportunities for your employees to engage in professional development that is meaningful to them. Help set them up for success and you will likely be rewarded)

There are a number of different opportunities for professional development:

Attend a Seminar
Attend a Conference or Convention
Take part in a Webinar
Enroll in a Class
Join a Professional Group
Attend Networking Events

Taking part in professional development can help re-energize your career. You can reignite interest in something that has become routine by offering new ideas or methods of approach. You can open doors to possibilities for advancement that you did not even know existed. You can challenge your mind with new thoughts, theories, concepts and tactics. You can build new relationships with others in your field that can provide you with new and exciting insights and knowledge.

Professional Development can allow you to take a chance on something that is a new interest and explore the possibility of it. It can also provide you with something positive to work towards. Sometimes work can feel like it is unrewarding. Setting goals for education and skill development can help you to experience small or even great successes.

Resolving to get active, eat better, quit smoking or spend more time loving life are all great self-promises and ones well worth the effort. Working towards these goals and achieving them can be extremely fulfilling, as can achieving any goal. Set professional goals for yourself outside of meeting deadlines and finishing projects. Resolve to learn something new, make new relationships, to learn, to grow and to keep finding new forms of happiness in your work.

This is your year! What are you going to do with it?