Top tips for excelling in your career and life in 2020 and beyond

Top tips for excelling in your career and life in 2020 and beyond

Margie Warrell
Wiley has recently launched a ‘Be Your Best’ book series to kick of the new decade. We’ve partnered with the publisher to explore some of the key tips for with their female authors for excelling in the year ahead. You can check out the full series at Booktopia here.

Set a bold vision for yourself, writes Margie Warrell

One of the most powerful ways to kick start a new year (and new decade!) is giving yourself a little ‘time out’ to imagine your ultimate vision of success for the year ahead.

Put yourself in the shoes of your future self – you one year from now – and imagine what you’d love to look back up and how you’d love to feel within yourself.

What you would love to have accomplished, created, changed or learnt? And if you did that, what emotions would you love to be feeling – a deep sense of satisfaction, gratification, empowerment or excitement? Then write down whatever you come up with.

I’ve done this exercise now for many years and while I’ve not always nailed my goals (because let’s face it, sometimes our best laid plans can derail), simply clarifying my highest vision of success has got me out of my comfort zone and focused me on doing things I may never have done otherwise.

Wishing you a brave 2020! You’ve got this!

Leave the negativity behind, says Michelle Gibbings

Michelle Gibbons

Just as people horde stuff – be it clothes, relics, artefacts or even junk – we can all unwittingly horde thoughts that are no longer helpful and should be left behind

We hold on to fears, assumptions and even grudges.  We have expectations on others that don’t help the relationship. We have expectations of ourselves that need to change too.

The new year is a great time to leave behind those outdated ideas and pre-conceived conceptions that are no longer serving you.

Start by asking yourself:

  • What are you holding on to that is preventing you from changing and moving forward?
  • Are you holding on to expectations or grudges that are damaging your relationships with people?
  • Are your expectations on yourself too hard or too easy?
  • What are you telling yourself about what you can and can’t do that needs to shift?
  • What daily practices and habits do you need to establish to become the best version of you?
Say no to overwork and avoid burnout, notes Dr Jenny Brockis

Staying smarter, sharper and at the top of your game takes energy, focus and a healthy dollop of enthusiasm

Say no to overwork, stress and burnout with some simple ground rules for success

  1. Know who you are and what you aspire to achieve
  2. Stay true to your values – align with honesty and integrity
  3. Grant permission to care – for yourself and others and nurture strong interpersonal relationships
  4. Be curious to what could be and focus on what you want
  5. Stay safe – maintain your mental wellbeing by keeping stress in the healthy range, be mindful and spend 120 minutes each week outdoors
  6. Plan regular downtime to rest and recover – practice on a daily, weekly and quarterly basis to boost productivity, insight and creativity
  7. Make sleep a priority – with a consistent routine and comfy sleep environment

And remember to include fun and a laugh along the way.

Continually ask these 2 questions, says Allison Hill

There’s something about the possibility of the new year that is intoxicating. In order to kick-start the year for the extraordinary in business or at work (and not let this intoxicating feeling fad away with those new year promises), focus on two key questions:

  1. Why this? – why is what you are doing important? What are the things that matter? Write them down, keep them front of mind, map your weekly and monthly calendar to put aside time for the things that are important.
  2. What’s next? – Momentum is your ally. Amongst the distractions and uncertainty ask yourself and your team often, what’s the most important thing we can do next in order to drive progress?

Come back to these questions often and 2020 could be your biggest year yet.

Try creating moments of calm, writes Angela Lockwood

Angela Lockwood

As the new year pushes forward you may be feeling that time does not slow down for us. It continues at a pace where we can’t keep up leaving us feeling exhausted and overwhelmed.

Not this year. This year we are going to do things differently and slowly. This year through creating stillness and moments of calm you will find the energy, creativity and space to do the things that matter to you in your work and in your life.

Moments can be created in simple ways by looking away from your computer, going for a walk at lunch, having a cup of tea in the quiet of the morning, arriving at a meeting a little earlier to get prepared, reading a book for 10 minutes before you go to sleep. Simple.

Kickstart the year by welcoming it calmly and when life speeds up, know you are in control.

All of the above authors have recently published books with Wiley, you can check out more from them here.

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