Authored by Guidemark Health, now part of Lumanity
Here is a question not being asked very often despite the current COVID-19 environment. How do we continue to grow professionally in 2020? I am sure I am not alone when I say that 2020 was off to a strong start. We all started the year, as we typically do, thinking about or writing down specific personal and professional goals that we wanted to accomplish in 2020 or beyond. This is always the first step when it comes to growing, especially growing professionally. You can’t grow without setting goals!
Staying goal-oriented is even more important during this tumultuous time given the benefits on mental wellbeing. Once you pinpoint the goals that you want to accomplish, you should create a road map and let nothing deter you. Your road map will help guide your growth plan by helping you to accomplish these goals. To successfully grow professionally, different actions will need to occur. As we are all currently experiencing, a big one is remaining flexible and adapting to new environments. Some ways that you can do this are by stepping out of your comfort zone, creating new habits (mental and/or physical), reaching out to your networks to collaborate, and or learning something new.
Once you develop your road map, then it is time to execute. Growth cannot be accomplished without change or implementation. To get going, it is best to focus on the small milestones while keeping your end goal in mind. Remember to remain flexible as things can change in a moment, potentially throwing you off your growth plan. Globally, 2020 has thrown us all off track with isolation and social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When life quickly changed, it was extremely important for me not to lose sight of my growth plan and goals. In the beginning, I was thrown off track. I quickly needed to come up with solutions for my clients to help them accomplish their goals with their new circumstances. In addition, I now had a house full and needed to develop new routines, maneuver around different schedules, and cancel several planned events. Once I worked through how to adjust to my new normal, I refocused on my growth. Did I need to adjust my growth plan? Of course I did, but my goals never changed. Some actions that I took to refocus on my professional growth included reviewing my action plan and adjusting where needed, posting my goals on a wall, and pushing myself back into my normal routine as much as possible.
Every year has its challenges, with 2020 being one of the most challenging years yet, but we cannot let challenges stop us from growing and accomplishing our goals!
