Professional Resolutions with a New Perspective

Let me add myself to the collective millions (billions?) of folks who are glad to have passed the year-end milestone and are hoping, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this coming calendar year is very different! We can finally say now “2020 is behind us!”. Many have faced personal and professional challenges that could not be foreseen. Some have had success as well, despite the difficulties on the road to personal and professional progress. Some have had success because 2020 provided them ingredients for it, and I hope that these individuals utilized this success to benefit others, and provide support to those in need.

Like many others, I use the page-flip into a new calendar year as a marker and opportunity to reflect and reset my mind. By no means is this necessary, I have had years where I was firmly anti “year-end mindset”, because a calendar switch is an arbitrary marker of time passing, and I think a lot of folks have had, or still have, this outlook, which is fine! Still, I think this year I wanted to write this blogpost about professional resolutions just as a fun exercise, and maybe (hopefully) put something out there that would benefit (inspire?!?) someone towards a path for professional advancement. This resolutions list will not contain personal goals like achieving the desired weight or reading more books. Let’s get started.

Professional Resolutions with a New Perspective

(Submitted by author, modified from CC-0 images at pixabay.com)

1) Explore and find the potential to grow your professional community.

Trainees and early career folks tend to be very focused on their individual or small team “projects”. While this is important, it could obscure the wider “community” aspect of advancement that’s needed to build and expand one’s career. In 2021, I want to continue exploring new ways to participate in professional community building (like joining committees, participating in campaigns, being active in welcoming new members at work, to give a few examples). However possible, find the potential to grow and connect with other professionals within the field.

2) Make ambitious and novel plans for professional advancement projects (with a catch).

One of the things that are very commonly mentioned about 2020 is the reduction/delay/loss of some desired professional accomplishments, which were planned or anticipated before the global health crisis materialized and became unavoidable. A lot of trainees and early career professionals spent much of 2020 trying to salvage whatever they could to complete tasks. This is understandable. Having said that, the “salvaging work” mentality is at best a temporary approach to professional advancement, and at worst, an active hindrance to progress. Making a concerted effort to plan and perform novel and ambitious projects in the new year is a way to get one’s career trajectory back on a climbing slope. The catch I alluded to earlier is vital to note here: in addition to being ambitious in planning, be forgiving of yourself as you track the progress of these new projects. The global health crisis is still ongoing, and everyone is navigating new territory with this whole career advancement reality.

3) Highlight and celebrate all successes on your career path (small or big).

There is a prevalent stream of thinking within academic, scientific, and medical spaces that orient members of these communities to only focus on the biggest accomplishments achieved. Celebrating a publication years in the making, a graduation (also years in the making), a promotion to more senior status (years in the making… do you see the trend?!), and so on. The past year has certainly reduced the number of success stories for many, especially for the early career folks. In 2021, I think it would greatly benefit us to celebrate more professional milestones, even the small ones, and to highlight and be proud of any professional success achieved. The longer we delay enjoying the journey we are on, the longer and drearier the journey will feel like, and maybe even become. The old saying “success begets more success” can be made more accurate by saying “celebrating success paves the way for more success”.

So, as we all metaphorically and collectively turn the page and start a new chapter, leaving 2020 behind us, I aim and resolve myself to advancing my professional life by connecting more, thinking of novel, fun, and ambitious new projects, and to celebrate each small or big step forward on my early career path towards a fulfilling professional journey. Have a happy and healthy new year!

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