It’s easy to start off at the beginning of the year with a headstrong, positive attitude. You’ve set your New Year’s Resolutions, you’ve pinned them to your wall and you’re ready to ensure you meet them. But as the glow of a fresh start fades and it’s back to reality, sometimes it’s hard to keep the motivation – it has to be possible though, right? Especially if it means a successful year!
1) Review your goals
Those goals you set back at the end of December? Go over them again. If you’ve aimed to place a set number of candidates in jobs by the end of the year, or aimed to gain a certain number of new clients, are you on track to meet that if you continue on with your monthly average so far? If you’re not on track to meet your goals, ask yourself why not? If you are on track, look back at what you’ve been doing right and make sure it continues into Q2.
2) Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback
The people who work with you know what they like about your style and what they think could be improved on – ask! If there’s something that isn’t quite going as planned, ask your co-workers and your clients what they think. It’s going to improve your relationship if they see you taking their feedback seriously, and you’ll learn from your own mistakes.
3) Give your website a boost
If you’re hitting a February slump, maybe it’s time to spruce up your online channels a little. It doesn’t even have to be your website – it could be a new Twitter layout, or something as simple as a new graphic for your Facebook cover picture. The change doesn’t have to be huge – you want to still be recognisable, of course – but a simple change might just be enough to inspire you.
4) Check in with your clients.
If you’ve placed candidates in 2015, check in with your clients to make sure things are still running smoothly. Nothing will revitalize you more than to hear success stories and hopefully your clients will have a few of those to tell you. If you're just starting up, focus on how good it will feel once you've got a bank of success stories under your belt!
5) Attend recruitment events
It’s all too easy to sit at your desk and make connections over social media rather than engaging face to face – especially as Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin have made it all too easy! But sometimes nothing is more motivating than meeting people face to face. It’s inspiring to see how determined a candidate is to break into a field, and there’s no contest between making a connection with a client over e-mail and getting along with them face-to-face. Sometimes, it’s best to be a little old school, especially to freshen things up.
6) Do something different
If you work from home, try working in a coffee shop; if you work in an office, try finding a different routine for your work. If what you’re doing is beginning to lose momentum, then do something to switch it up! This could be something massive like changing your environment entirely, or it could be something as small as starting to use your Twitter account more when you’ve always favoured Facebook – but it’s an easy tip to make your day-to-day routine just that little bit more interesting and keep yourself and everyone else engaged.
7) Reward yourself
It’s easy to work and work until you burn out – but don’t forget to reward yourself, to give yourself something to look forward to! If you hit your target for the month, arrange to do something you love, either with your co-workers or your friends. Take a break when you feel exhausted, and come back to your work with a fresh eye and renewed sense of determination.
If you haven’t lost momentum at all and your 2016 goals are looking very achievable, then congratulations – maybe you’ll need to come back to these tips far later in the year, or maybe not at all! And if you’re afraid of hitting the New Year slump, then maybe reviewing, changing things up, and rewarding yourself will revitalize you and push you to keep going.
Remember, when those goals become a reality, it’s all worth it.
