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91% of people quit their New Year’s Resolutions.

Are you one of them?

Is it really that bad if you are?

When I first saw this statistic, I felt defensive. I felt like a failure, knowing I didn’t meet my goals.

But my priorities changed.

I still accomplished a lot.

If anything, I need to learn how to quit more, so I can focus on the things that matter.

When you set multiple goals, it’s hard to keep track of everything.

When you focus on 1 main goal and put all your effort towards it, it’s easier to work towards.

That’s why quitting goals and commitments that no longer serve you can help you focus.

In fact, you can integrate this with our previous articles about setting up systems to reach your goals:

https://www.entrylevel.net/post/stop-setting-new-year-s-resolutions

https://www.entrylevel.net/post/time-travel-to-reach-your-career-goals

For now, let’s dive into quitting to reach your career goals. Here’s how to leverage the focus that quitting will allow you to have.

A MESSAGE FROM ENTRYLEVEL

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1. Understand what motivates you

What motivates you to grow in your career?

Are you running towards something better, or running away from something worse?

Some people transition careers because of love - they want to try something new that excites them.

Others transition careers because of fear - they feel stuck in their current roles and want to leave for somewhere better.

Which one are you?

Understand what motivates you to make better career decisions.

2. Identify your career North Star metric

A North Star metric is the key measurement that predicts a company’s success. It measures the value a company delivers for its users.

For example, WhatsApp’s North Star metric is total messages sent, not monthly active users. WhatsApp isn’t providing value if their users are active but not sending any messages.

You can read more about North Star metrics here: https://julianconnor.medium.com/a-product-managers-guide-to-the-north-star-metric-ea0ca7d6c439

If you apply this to your career goals, your North Star metric is how you know you’ve achieved success in your goal.

Knowing your motivations will inform whether this North Star metric is something like “number of projects completed,” “number of mentors received feedback from,” or “time spent revising resume.”

3. List your NOs

Every product manager hates it.

Scope creep.

That’s why every Product Requirements Document (PRD) has a section for “requirements” - which should include what’s out of scope.

Do the same for your career goal, now that you have a North Star metric.

List what you have to say no to so you can reach that goal.

Saying no to some things (staying up too late at night going on social media) means you say yes to things that matter (waking up early to work on your personal and professional development).

4. Regularly measure what’s important

What gets measured gets improved.

Every week, reflect on your efforts.

For example, let’s say your North Star metric is “number of data projects completed” and your goal is to complete 1 project per month to improve your data analysis skills.

At the end of every week, consider whether you’ve made progress on your project.

At the end of every month, evaluate whether or not you’ve completed your project.

You can create a habit tracker to keep you organized.

It’s okay if you haven’t reached your goal - the important thing is you learn about yourself and adjust your habits accordingly.

Summary

Rethink your opinions on quitting. Sometimes, it’s necessary for your success.

Here’s how to use this mindset to achieve your career goals:

1. Understand what motivates you

2. Identify your career North Star metric

3. List your NOs

4. Regularly measure what’s important

Did this change your mindset?

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