You Need to Make This Career Resolution Right Now

Ahhh…. The new year is just around the corner, and that can only mean one thing: Resolutions. By now, you’d probably have your list made out – lose some weight, spend more time reading, pick up a new skill.

But what about your career? Do you have a resolution for that?

You may want to get promoted this year or make 2020 the year where you find your passion or start a side hustle. But if you haven’t really given it much thought, then we say this is the resolution you need to make (or even if you have made some resolutions, make sure to include this):

Say yes to everything.

You read that right. You’ve been reading articles that tell you why it is important to say no at work (you can read it right here if you haven’t), which is essential when it comes to setting boundaries. But if you want to open yourself up to new opportunities that can take your career to greater heights, you should say yes to everything.

Take cue from Shonda Rhimes, the creator of popular hit series like Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. Rhimes has a bestselling memoir called Year of Yes, where she writes about how she decided to take the plunge for one year in her life by saying yes to everything. It completely changed her life, as she talks about the experiment here in this moving TED Talk. More importantly, it made her better at her passion, which is writing and creating.

Another fan of saying yes? Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson. Says the multi-millionaire and super successful businessman: “Opportunity favours the bold – this is a lesson that I learned early on and have used to guide the Virgin story.”

Now back to you and 2020. Your first yes? To making saying yes to everything your career resolution this year. Here’s how it can help change your career – and life.

#1 Saying yes means more opportunities
One reason why you’re in a comfort zone? Because you’re not saying yes to new things. It feels good to be in a place where you’re comfortable but when it comes to your career, comfortable isn’t exactly leading you to the top. If your boss asked if you can chair the next meeting, instead of being afraid and telling your boss you’re not ready, say yes – even if you really don’t think you have the skills to do it correctly. The key is this: Say yes first – then learn how to do it later. Opportunities may not come very often to improve yourself so when there is a chance, grab it.

#2 Saying yes tells your boss that you’re willing to learn
When someone says no all the time, that person is essentially turning down opportunities. When you say no to your boss always, he will get the impression that you’re either not interested or confident. But if you say yes, that says you’re willing to give it a go and who knows, you might even be good at it. Best part is it tells your boss that you’re keen to learn new things, which is always a good thing early in your career.

#3 Saying yes makes it fun!
Want to try bungee jumping? Sure! Want to go check out that new coffee place? Why not! Want to check out the new band? Let’s do it! See how saying yes let’s you explore and try new things? Go on – have some fun in life, just say yes. You never know what adventure you might have.

#4 Saying yes lets you discover more about yourself
You wouldn’t know you actually like organising events if you didn’t say yes to helping your boss out with the conference. You wouldn’t find out you’re actually good at social media marketing if you didn’t say yes to helping out a colleague during an important campaign. These are all important things to find out about yourself early on in your career which can only happen when you say yes.

Got a story of how saying yes helped you discover something about yourself? Tweet it to us at @graduan.