Welcome to this week's episode of the Modern Mentor Podcast. I'm your host, Rachel Cook.

Today's episode is all about how to make professional resolutions for 2021 that you'll actually keep. Because the odds aren't in our

favor, and yet we keep making them every year. Let's make 2021 the year they stick. New Year's

resolutions. According to Inc. Magazine, 60% of us make them. But many of us know that when it comes

to actually keeping New Year's resolutions,

the odds are not exactly in our favor. Research shows that despite our best intentions,

only 8% of us accomplish the resolutions we set for ourselves. So what keeps us coming back

every year? Well, as Sykes Central tells us, it's partly tradition. We are creatures of habit.

And it's partly the allure of a fresh start, a clean slate. And let's be honest, if you're

anything like me, 2020 has left you hungrier than ever before for fresh starts and clean slates.

That fresh start can apply to your professional life just as easily as it applies to dropping a few pounds,

quitting your Starbucks habit, or taking up hot yoga. So let's talk about some strategies to help

you set career resolutions and, most importantly, actually keep them.

Let's talk about goals versus resolutions. Every year, I hear people say, my New Year's

resolution is to lose 20 pounds. But technically speaking, that's not a resolution. It's a goal.

It's an outcome that you either do or don't achieve.

A New Year's resolution is a promise that you make to yourself to start doing something good

or stop doing something bad on the first day of the year, according to the Cambridge English Dictionary.

A goal might be to achieve a revenue target, land an interview with someone you admire, or strike up a coveted partnership.

A resolution defines the experience you want to have. It's about the how, not the what.

When I think of resolutions, I think of habits that will bring out the best version of myself.

Something like a promise to plan my day the night before,

...