The first of January rears its head to a sudden surge in gym memberships, drop in sugary foods and a collective mantra of ‘new me’. While the encouragement of a new year is promising, be mindful when setting professional new year’s resolutions to ensure they serve you beyond Q1. Whether this is the first time you’ve considered setting professional resolutions or this is a healthy habit you follow every year here are 5 resolutions that will set you on a path to success in 2018 and beyond in your career as a personal assistant, executive assistant or office manager.&nbsp; &nbsp; 1. Establish your network It’s your job to make your executive’s day-to-day a success and that involves being at the peripheral, sometimes epicenter, of their relationships. Being networked internally puts you in a position to keep the organisational pulse for your executive and will help you anticipate conflict, identify champions for your cause and maintain a constructive bird’s eye view of the company. An external network will support you in continued professional growth and will eventually establish you as an influencer within your field. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Action:&nbsp;Attend a monthly rotation of team status meetings (i.e. marketing, sales, tech, customer care).&nbsp;Attend casual networking events in your city. <a class="" href="https://www.meetup.com" target="_blank" style="cursor:pointer; color: #3366ff;">Meetup.com</a> is a great place to start.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 2. Be visible in 2018 Take on one highly visible project per quarter. This will keep you vested in the company beyond the success of your boss and will elevate your visibility within the organisation. This elevated visibility will pay off when you need to pull strings in order to achieve a task that’s beyond your typical scope. Make this goal known to your boss and see if he/she envisions you on an upcoming project that involves other teams. Higher visibility will go hand-in-hand with your networking goal and will make your more effective in navigating your way through your company. &nbsp; Action:&nbsp;Seek out opportunities that appeal to your skills set beyond your everyday tasks. If you like sports establish an offsite volleyball team. If you enjoy technology establish a quarterly round table talk with developers and project managers from various companies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 3. Gain a new tech skill&nbsp; Just as you master one platform another will emerge. Gaining a new tech skill doesn’t need to be limited to technology currently used within the company. You might test out a new Wallet app or brush up on advanced Excel skills. Your mastery of technology will keep other skills sharp and give you a sense of accomplishment as you continually improve yourself as an asset to your current and future employer. &nbsp;&nbsp; Action: Set a Google alert for a technology topic you’re interested in and download a trending app within that category. Alternatively, find a free class online or join a community on LinkedIn relevant to a tech topic that peaks your interest.&nbsp;&nbsp; 4. Don’t reinvent the wheel&nbsp; Be consistent in your technique and document both success but failure. Keep a regular professional journal and review this monthly. Reflect on challenges and solutions from last year and document these if you’ve not done so already. Keep a healthy routine and a sharp scrutiny of new processes. This will help you eliminate unnecessary busy work and stay focused on big picture tasks. Action: Document successes and failures from 2017 and identify key factors that contributed to these results. Replicate habits that served your well and eliminate those that don’t.&nbsp; 5. Understand your boss’s 2018 goals While you don’t want to reinvent the wheel the new year is a good time to reflect on existing practices and re-establish communication channel between you and your boss. Kick off the new year by sharing your professional new year’s resolutions and ask if they have any of their own. This may extend into personal resolutions because the PA role doesn’t stop at the office door. Knowing your boss’s goals for 2018 will make you more effective in being the air-traffic controller of their daily life. &nbsp; Action: Request a meeting early on in the new year. Your boss will be happy to know you’ve got a long term vision and clear intention to support them in their personal goals.&nbsp; Do you have other new year’s resolutions you think every personal assistant should keep? <a class="" href="https://twitter.com/OfficeServeFood" target="_blank" style="cursor:pointer; color: #3366ff;">Tweet us at @OfficeServeFood</a> to tell us what you think and share how your 2018 is starting.

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Well, this is unfortunate....