Career New Year Resolutions

I always feel a little lost inside during the first few months of work. Its the time I look back on the resolutions I made last year. I am sure some of you did not succeed and probably will not succeed this year either. So really, why do we bother making these promises to ourselves year after year?

December sped by a drunken haze of parties, dancing and the added thoughts of being overworked, underpaid and over qualified in my job.

In the face of another year of long, crazy hours, horrid sandwiches and salad, arguments with colleagues and management; the day to day comforts of work suddenly seem unrewarding. 

And so it must end. Time for some Career New Year Resolutions. New Years Resolutions show that people yearn for a fresh start. This is my opportunity for a clean state and a chance to try again. In theory, its a great idea.  I searched the internet for some great CNYRs and came across a few "interesting ideas". One of it to...yes you guess it. Start your own business.

If you think about it its actually not a bad idea. Why struggle into a miserable, underpaid office job and tear-inducing commutes when you could be working unencumbered from the comfort of your pad? Why get up in the wee hour when you could rise at 9.00am and work in your PJs with a pot of Green tea at your side? All you need to do is knock up some business cards, buy a contact database and put in a few hours each evening writting letters and proposals and ta-da you're in business! 

But c'mon the idea of leaving the PAYE system is HORRIFYING! Someone once told me that employess never pay for anything. And that is absolutely correct. By owning your own little business, even though you're working from home, you'll still end up with all the expenses - stationeries, postage, research, marketing, advertising, etc.

Also, try working from home everyday and you'll watch your bedroom turns from office to prison and you'll realise that you have no one else to blame for your unfinished workload. Don't get me wrong, I'm very productive whenever I work from home and only really work from home when I have no meetings scheduled and after some quiet time away from office to really do some work. But no way can I imagine working from home full time. 

Anyway enough mucking around. Here are some simple steps I am planning to apply to boost my chances of getting a promotion or against any competition if I do decide changing jobs this year. 

• Update my tech skills
• Meet more people in the industry
• Maybe start a narrative writting course
• Update my look

So what do you think?