“How is it October already?” I’ve heard this phrase uttered countless times since we ticked over into a new month, mostly with a sense of dread or panic in the intonation. When we set our goals at the beginning of the year, there is a lot of momentum and good intention powering us through, but as the days get darker and colder, it’s easy to let that motivation fade into the background. Here at AllBright, we are committed to supporting you with your ambitions, so we’ve put together a short guide to get you back on track with your 2023 goals, and end the year on a high!

Reflecting on your goals

First things first, what are your 2023 goals? Are they written on a piece of paper that now lives at the bottom of a desk drawer? It’s time to bring them to the front of your mind once again, and beyond that, assess if they still work for you. It’s possible that at the beginning of the year you wanted things for yourself that no longer stand. For instance, did you want to lead on a project, which you’ve now already done? Or maybe you wanted to move into a new role that after some research and experience, you’ve realised isn’t right for you?

Now is a good time to return to those goals and reflect on how to adapt them to what works for your life now. Or perhaps revisiting your goals will remind you of something you had forgotten you desired. Either way, making time to get familiar with your intentions for yourself can help rejuvenate a sense of purpose. It can be useful to take out a journal for this activity and put any reflections and new goals down on paper.

Creating time

One of the biggest blockers to achieving our goals is finding the time to work towards them. No matter how important they may feel to us, sometimes it’s inevitable that work and life get in the way. But, how do we create time in an already packed schedule? Women in particular can be guilty of putting everybody else’s needs ahead of our own, yet when we do this we are sacrificing things that may be important to our own happiness and wellbeing. 

Many workplaces actively encourage time to work on objectives and/or career development, whether it’s through regular check-ins with your manager or appraisals scheduled throughout the year. One way to make progress on these and ensure they don’t fall to the bottom of the list, is to block out time in your diary to dedicate to this. Another way is to create and communicate your boundaries. Do you always let work bleed into the time you’d like to dedicate to a creative project you are working on? Are you guilty of checking emails on a Sunday, when you have already earmarked that time for writing or working on your own website? Communicating these boundaries with those around you will also help people become accountability partners.

Don’t go it alone!

It is tempting to keep our goals to ourselves and try to make them happen alone. It may be because we are fearful to share our goals with others, believing they are too big or out of reach, or it may be because we think no one else would be interested in knowing what they are. However, trends suggest that working with someone to achieve your goals can help your chances of attaining them. One way of doing this is through mentorship. Did you know that mentees are promoted five times more often than those without mentors? Having someone who can guide you towards your goals, and who come with a wealth of experience, can help bridge the gap between goal and reality. If you want to find out more about how to be or get a mentor, check out our mentor matching platform.

Another great thing about sharing your intentions with others is that they may know what or who you need, to help you get to where you want to be! According to Linkedin, 70% of people are hired at a company where they already have a connection, so if you are trying to find a job in a particular industry or company, making new connections could be the way to go. CNBC also reports that 70% of all jobs are not published publicly on jobs sites, so sharing your skills and career aspirations may help you connect with the person who could offer you your next role!

Investing in yourself

As Miley Cyrus recently expressed ‘there is no one I would rather invest in than myself.’ Whether it’s time (which we have already covered), effort or money, investing in yourself in the short-term can have a long-term impact on your life and career. Here at AllBright we know firsthand just how much completing a course, starting coaching or attending an event can change your career trajectory.

An example of this is Laura Cox, CFO, Sophia Webster, who took part in our Elevator programme. She shares “I was at a point in my career where I had done the hard work but leadership did not necessarily come easily to me. In order to climb the ladder, I felt I was more of a worker bee and transitioning to a position of leadership was daunting to me. The elevator course was instrumental in building the skills I needed as well as giving me the confidence to dive into leadership.”

Is there something you’ve been putting off that you can do for yourself to give that extra push before the end of the year?