It’s that time of year again, time for New Year’s resolutions!  Each year millions of people make resolutions with the hope of ending bad habits and creating good ones.  It’s a powerful time really, to look back and see what’s worked over the last year, what didn’t work, and then allow for new beginnings, and new possibilities in the upcoming year.

In that spirit, we have compiled a list of 10 important resolutions to help you and your employees meet 2015 with excitement and welcome a happier and more empowered workplace!   

Top 10 Important Resolutions for a Happy and Empowered Workplace

10.  Meet new people!  Both at work and outside of work.  Join a networking group.  Find people within your company with similar interests and enjoy getting to know them.  You never know the difference you might make in each other’s lives.

9.  Reduce complaints and increase solutions!  Being around someone who complains all the time is draining.  And yet, we all do it!  We get frustrated or may feel as though we can’t change anything.  But what if you focused on solutions instead of complaints?  Imagine what your day would be like if you looked at challenges inside of what you could do to help or impact them?  Regardless of whether your ideas are implemented or not, you’ve just altered your perspective, and this will impact your life in general.  

8.  No more gossiping!  This will make a huge impact on your life as well.  Gossiping is never a good idea, whether at work or even at home.  Talking about someone in a way that leaves another person with a negative version of someone is both unprofessional and disrespectful.  And, it’s very common.  Disengaging from a conversation with gossip can feel kind of awkward at first, but do your best to redirect the conversation or let the person know that you do not want to engage in those types of conversations.  Soon you’ll probably start to notice that people just don’t go there with you.

7.  Step away from the technology!  We are inundated with information and technology constantly throughout the day.  Step away from your desk at least a couple times a day, leave your phone there and get outside for some fresh air. Or, get some face time with a co-worker.  Just give yourself permission to unplug, even if just for a few minutes.

6.  Grow!  How can you challenge yourself? What can you do to grow professionally and personally? Consider taking a seminar, a leadership course, or a work-specific class.  Step out of your comfort zone and allow yourself to grow.

5.  Be accountable and lose the guilt!  We’re not perfect.  In fact, most of us are kind of messy.  If you make a mistake, own it.  Be responsible for the impact, put something in place that supports you in not repeating the same mistake in the future, and move on.  No sense in carrying it around with you or beating yourself up over it.

4.  Manage your social media usage!  We’ve all been sucked into the vortex of Facebook or Twitter or whatever your social media outlet of choice is.  But there is a time and a place.  And it’s not at work (unless, of course, it is for work purposes).  Update your status after work, check out your favorite celebrity pics over lunch, and stay focused on work while you’re there.

3.  Be Well!  We would be remiss not to have something about exercise in this list, right?  Being “well” is a way of life.  It’s a set of daily choices you make to take care of yourself, and exercise is one of those.  Make time for it.  Add it in to your day over lunch or take a couple brisk walks morning and afternoon.  Try a Yoga or Kickboxing class or even register for a 5k.  Eat well.  Try and resist the urge to eat the donuts you see on a colleague’s desk.  Take care of yourself.  It will help your overall well-being and productivity.

2.  Manage Your Stress Levels!  There will always be things that happen in life that will stress us out.  Life will keep “lifing”…the only thing you can control is how YOU respond and react.  Look at the things that are happening at work or in life and find new ways to deal with them.  Stressing out can be an automatic or default way of being.  Step away from the situation and look at what you could do to help resolve the issue.  (Remember #9?) Whatever you can do to bring some kind of ease and peace around the situation will help you in the face of whatever stressor is there.

1.  Be The Change!  Be a force to reckon with, in life and at work.  Be a demonstration of integrity, leadership, power, happiness, joy, fun, laughter, whatever you want to see more of in your workplace, life and the world.  The access to inspiring the world to be a better place, is first and foremost through you.

Oftentimes an empowered workplace begins with the right software system to keep the organization running smoothly and give employees the data they need. Find out if your HR software is powerful enough to take your company to the next level in 2015 with our free eBook!

Wishing you a healthy and happy 2015 from all of us here at StarGarden.