By Salina Williams, Senior Consultant

If you’ve experienced an unsettled feeling throughout January, you’re not alone. The year 2020 was a lot to navigate, whether you’re working or managing a career transition. Nonetheless, 2020 is rapidly becoming the past as we enter the late days of January in this new year.

It’s not a new idea that “the best way to predict your future is to create it.” These words were spoken by Abraham Lincoln. This wisdom suggests that your future is in your hands, so why not strive for a boldly positive vision over the coming months? To make your future brighter, develop an intentional and optimistic mindset.

Applying this new mindset can be as easy as ensuring that you leave yourself in better shape each day than you were the day before. This will lead you to a better future. Don’t leave important things undone. Make note of the important things that you need to do for the day. Create to-do lists and a daily schedule. Consider your life holistically: work, self care, family, and friends.

“Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.”
~ Dean Acheson, US Secretary of State to President Harry S. Truman.

If you’re job searching take the necessary actions to move yourself forward, step by step each day. View your job search as a marketing project with milestones; review your resume, revise your LinkedIn profile, research the market, prepare yourself for networking and study for the interview. Find an accountability partner to help you stay on track.

If you’re a leader, applying an intentional and optimistic mindset towards your communications can help you and your team. Recognizing that your words have the power to inspire or hurt, why not be thoughtful with the words you choose. It doesn’t cost you anything but is a great investment in your future. Communicate with care. We often don’t realize the power we have in our words.

As you’ve likely heard before, what matters is not what happens to you but how you respond to it.

The past is over. Change is the constant. The future can be better than the past.

In the words of Barak Obama: “The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.”

Salina Williams is a senior consultant and executive coach with Feldman Daxon Partners.