Start Strong: Your Career Plan for 2026
Briefly

Start Strong: Your Career Plan for 2026
"Many women begin the year with broad ambitions: Do more. Progress faster. Lead better. But without a clear career plan, it is easy to get caught in urgency, competing priorities, and other people's agendas.A strong start to the year is not about doing everything at once. It's about building a focused, realistic plan that aligns with your goals, values, and current season of life.This post outlines a step-by-step approach to planning your career for 2026 so that you can move with clarity rather than pressure."
"Begin with a structured review of the previous year.Ask yourself: What were my key achievements in 2025? Where did I make the most impact? What did I enjoy, and what did I find draining? Which strengths did I use most often? Where did I feel underused or misaligned? It can be helpful to look at feedback received from managers, peers, or stakeholders, as well as performance reviews or project outcomes. This gives you evidence to build on, rather than assumptions."
Begin the year by building a focused, realistic career plan aligned with goals, values, and current life season. Conduct an honest review of the previous year, documenting achievements, impact, strengths used, and areas of misalignment, and gather feedback from managers, peers, and performance reviews. Clarify a one-to-three-year directional vision rather than fixed goals, decide whether to advance, pivot, or change organizations, and write a short career statement. Identify desired responsibility level, work that energizes, and priorities such as flexibility, pay, impact, culture, or location. Strengthen progress through support networks and sponsors. Integrate well-being into planning to sustain performance and leadership over time.
Read at Psychology Today
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