Author: April Ogden, Founder and CEO, It’s Your Outcome

Insights from It’s Your Outcome Career Coaching

As the year comes to a close, it’s easy to look back on the goals you set last January and feel frustrated or overwhelmed. At It’s Your Outcome, we get it—career journeys are full of twists, turns, and unexpected roadblocks. The good news? Finishing the year strong doesn’t require a complete overhaul. Instead, you can make strategic, small adjustments that will transform your momentum and set you up for success.

In this blog, we’ll share real-life problems our clients faced and how small, practical resets helped them solve these challenges and finish the year on a high note. Let’s dive into the framework we use to help our clients reflect, reset, and regain momentum.

Step 1: Reflect – Turning Setbacks into Micro-Lessons

Before jumping into a reset, it’s important to pause and reflect on the past year. This doesn’t mean just looking at the big wins or setbacks, but digging deeper to find micro-lessons—those small but powerful insights that emerge from everyday experiences. These moments often reveal what worked, what didn’t, and where small changes can make a big impact.

Identify Three Micro-Lessons from the Year

Take a moment to celebrate the little wins and lessons from the year—sometimes it’s those small moments that end up making the biggest impact. For example, one of our clients, Aisha, a project manager, was frustrated about not seeing major growth in her role. We encouraged her to look beyond the big projects and reflect on smaller moments. She realized that stepping up to lead a cross-departmental meeting had improved communication processes across teams and showcased her leadership abilities. It wasn’t a flashy achievement, but it turned out to be a career-defining moment that she could leverage.

Why It Matters: Micro-lessons help uncover the small decisions and actions that have had a bigger influence than you might think. They provide clues about strengths you can build on and patterns that may need to change.

“The real value in reflecting on small victories is discovering what you did differently that can be repeated for even bigger wins.” – It’s Your Outcome Career Coaching

Step 2: Reframe a Significant Challenge as an Opportunity

One of our clients, Yuto, a senior marketing manager, struggled with the overwhelming demands of a high-stakes campaign that seemed to go off the rails. At first, Yuto saw the campaign as a failure, but together we reframed it as an opportunity to improve his project management approach. He identified gaps in team communication and adjusted his strategies for future projects. These changes ultimately led to better collaboration and outcomes, proving that setbacks often carry valuable lessons.

Try This: When reflecting on a setback, ask yourself what it taught you. If you faced challenges meeting expectations or managing time, consider what adjustments can help you avoid those pitfalls in the future.

Step 3: Reset with Small, Strategic Actions

Once you’ve reflected on your experiences, it’s time to hit the “reset” button—but don’t overwhelm yourself with too many new goals. Instead, focus on micro-actions—small, strategic steps targeted at the specific areas where you’ve faced challenges. These simple actions can create a ripple effect of positive change.

Step 5: Use Micro-Momentum to Kickstart Change

Micro-momentum is all about starting with actions that are so easy you can’t fail. Our client, Manuela, a customer service supervisor, felt stuck and overwhelmed by her daily workload. We suggested she start with one small habit: setting aside 10 minutes each morning to organize her tasks by priority. This simple adjustment helped her feel more in control and improved her productivity. Over time, her manager noticed her newfound efficiency, and she was soon given a leadership opportunity.

Why It Works: Achievable actions boost confidence and build momentum. When you start to see progress, even small wins can create a snowball effect, making it easier to take on bigger challenges.

Step 6: Perform a Digital Declutter for a Mental Reset

We’ve all been there—buried under a mountain of unread emails and wondering how on earth they piled up so quickly. Amit, a finance executive, was feeling overwhelmed by constant notifications and digital clutter. His productivity suffered because he couldn’t focus on high-priority tasks. We guided Amit through a digital declutter, where he unsubscribed from unnecessary newsletters, archived old emails, and scheduled specific times for checking notifications. Within weeks, he noticed a significant improvement in his focus and overall efficiency.

How It Helped: Clearing the digital clutter wasn’t just about tidying up; it was about creating mental space to concentrate on the things that mattered most. This simple reset gave Amit the clarity he needed to tackle more important tasks with renewed energy.

Step 7: Apply the 70/20/10 Rule for Time Management

We introduced the 70/20/10 rule to our client, Adéla, a marketing director, who felt like her career was stagnating because she was always focused on urgent tasks. The rule involves allocating your time as follows:

70% Focus on Core Responsibilities: Dedicate the majority of your time to tasks that drive your main results.

20% Explore New Opportunities: Engage in activities that aren’t core to your role but could become significant in the future.

10% Take Strategic Risks: Spend a small portion of your time on projects that stretch your abilities and push you out of your comfort zone.

By applying this approach, Adéla found time to work on a new certification, which positioned her for a senior leadership role. It also gave her the opportunity to explore creative marketing strategies that energized her work.

Establish Micro-Habits to Sustain Momentum

With reflection and resetting underway, it’s time to establish micro-habits that will maintain your progress. These small, consistent actions become easy to stick to and gradually lead to significant improvements over time.

1. Adopt a Micro-Habit That Supports Your Goals

Another one of our clients, Sofia, a software developer, struggled to find time for professional development. We worked together to incorporate a simple daily habit: spending 10 minutes each day reading tech industry articles or watching coding tutorials. This routine soon became part of her daily schedule, leading to new skills and improved confidence. Within a few months, she was asked to lead a new development project based on her enhanced expertise.

The Power of Micro-Habits: When habits are small and manageable, they’re more likely to stick. Over time, these little changes can lead to big results and open up new career opportunities.

2. Schedule a “Reset Day” to Realign Your Goals

Last year, we suggested to our client, Dinesh, a sales manager, that he take a “reset day” in November to realign his goals. He took a day off, turned off all notifications, and spent time reviewing his accomplishments, planning for the months ahead, and setting a vision for the upcoming year. This day of reflection and realignment helped him regain focus and excitement for his work, giving him the clarity he needed to wrap up the year on a positive note.

Why It’s Effective: A reset day isn’t just about catching up; it’s a chance to step back, refocus, and make strategic decisions for the future. It allows you to set yourself up for a strong finish and a confident start to the new year.

Step 8: End Strong: Commit to Accountability and Regular Reflection

A reset won’t last without ongoing reflection and accountability. Here’s how some of our clients made these principles work for them:

1. Create Accountability Structures

We helped our client, Fatima, a senior HR professional, partner with a colleague who shared similar goals. They scheduled weekly check-ins to discuss their progress and hold each other accountable. Having someone to share her journey with not only kept Fatima on track but also made the process more enjoyable and motivating.

Why Accountability Matters: Sharing your goals with someone else creates a sense of responsibility. It’s much easier to stick to your plans when you know someone is there to support you and cheer you on.

2. Make Reflection a Weekly Habit

Sarah, a graphic designer, felt like her weekly tasks were piling up and didn’t know where to start. We encouraged her to set aside 15 minutes every Friday to reflect on the week—what went well, what didn’t, and what she needed to adjust. This simple habit helped Sarah stay flexible, allowing her to course-correct quickly when things weren’t going as planned.

Share Your Reset Plan and Inspire Others

What small steps will you take this November to reset your career and finish the year strong?

Reach out to us at It’s Your Outcome. We want to encourage you to take intentional actions that will create big changes!