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Top career resolutions for 2010

By Emily Hughey Quinn, Source: Tribune Media Services

If you know you need to make a change but you’re not sure what it should be, here are some ideas, as recommended by career coaches and consultants nationwide.

Meet new people and learn new things. Duncan Mathison, career consultant and author, suggests, “Resolve to meet or get to know one person a month who is an expert in your field to learn something new about your work, latest methods and industry trends.”

Let go of the old and embrace the new.

“Gracefully end conversations that involve gossip and whining about the ‘good old days,’ ” Mathison says. “Embrace new projects and initiatives as opposed to taking a wait-and-see attitude.”

Use social media to develop the net worth of your network. Dan Finnigan, CEO of Jobvite, suggests opening a Twitter account for a professional Twitter presence; evaluating and updating your LinkedIn profile using all the tools available, including the recommendations; developing a Google profile; and identifying three to five industry blogs you can start tracking and commenting on.

Turn things in ahead of time, revise your work and respond within the same day.

“Why these? Because not being timely, handing in work with errors and not responding to e-mails or voice mails are possibly the most common way of annoying other people,” says Mark Goulston, author of “Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone” (AMACOM, $24.95). “And if you can turn in things ahead of time, without errors and return e-mails and voicemails within the same day, you will distinguish yourself from the vast majority of people who don’t.”

Give your mind a break.

“The most positive, powerful New Year’s resolution anyone can make is to decide to take a 5 to 10 minute ‘mental vacation’ each day to unplug from the craziness,” says Barbara Burke, management consultant, speaker and author of the soon-to-be released “The Napkin, The Melon and The Monkey” (Hay House, $19.95). Get comfortable and close your eyes; relax your body from head to toe and breathe in and out, noticing and counting your “out” breath. “As thoughts drift in, simply notice each thought and say to yourself, ‘That’s a thought. Let it go.’ ”

Then repeat.

© 2009, Tribune Media Services