At each start of the year, people make a habit of goal-setting in the form of New Year’s resolutions. By early January, we’d signed up for gym memberships, set a monthly budget, ditched the sweets from the grocery cart, and quit vices like smoking.

The motivation is at an all-time high. And when you see your friends and family go through the same, you think you have enough to keep up for the rest of the year.

But here’s a newsflash: When the clock strikes midnight on January 1, your mindset and attitude don’t miraculously change.

Time and again, a high percentage of new year’s resolutions fail as early as the first month. And in part, it’s because the goals were unrealistic or that people eventually forgot their resolutions.

The real change begins with your identity. While TIME can be a factor in your execution, the desire to make a change within YOU is what will keep you going no matter which date you begin your resolutions.

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The Best “New You” Resolutions to Improve Your Presence

The power of presence is an important tool for your professional success. When you make a strong impression on others, you have higher chances to land a job, win a promotion, close a deal, or inspire change.

Here are the top resolutions to get started:

#1: Build a signature wardrobe

Workwear impacts the way you present yourself in the workplace. So if you want to look like a ‘new and improved you’ and make a great first impression on clients and colleagues, then start with the basics: your appearance.

Having key pieces that make you feel your best when incorporated into your personal style is key to having a signature wardrobe.

You can start by purging your clothes, shoes, and accessories. Toss away items you haven’t used in a while or simply donate them to Goodwill and let others have their way with them.

Next, decide on your color palette. While we’re a big fan of black and white pairings, you can look elegant and polished with colors and showcase your uniqueness with them. Find out if you fall under a warm or cool tone, so you can invest in colored fashion pieces that match.

An important tip when building your signature wardrobe: choose quality over quantity. There are many brands that offer great quality without a hefty price tag. With enough wardrobe essentials, you can still look expensive without necessarily spending a chunk of your salary or commission.

READ: The Real Estate Agent Style Code: Dress for Success

#2: Look and stay healthy

The advantage of doing “New You” resolutions is you don’t get to be a part of the statistic that refers to gym attendees dropping off their program after the first six to eight weeks of the year.

Looking and staying healthy can be part of your improved presence game plan regardless of when you have decided to do it. Here are some examples:

• Exercise
  • Hitting the gym
  • Doing cardio (walking, jogging)
• Eat nutritious food
  • Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables
  • Minimize sugar intake
  • Avoid processed foods
• Get enough sleep
• Take vitamins
  • Vitamin B-complex: Maintain energy levels and mental alertness
  • Vitamin D: Strengthen your immune system
• Build a self-care routine
• Avoid harmful vices (i.e. cigarettes)

#3: Organize personal space including digital files

When it comes to presence, a lot of showing up is about their energy. And for most people, their energy levels are influenced by their surroundings and how they feel about them.

This is why having a space where you can conduct yourself best is important. It’s hard to have a polished presence if you’re constantly surrounded by clutter, whether physically or digitally.

Tips to Maintain a Clean Workspace

• Clean your desk regularly
• Dedicate a space for every item you possess
• Don’t buy things you don’t need
• Avoid eating at your work desk
• Throw things out and recycle

Tips for Digital Declutter

• Label your digital files efficiently
• Unsubscribe to emails you don’t read
• Clear out your inbox
• Sort and backup your gallery in a hard drive
• Reorganize your apps

#4: Find a signature scent

People may forget names, and sometimes faces, but how you smell at a given time may be how others remember you best. Smells trigger memories and if you want your “New You” presence to be remembered fondly, you’ve got to find a scent that represents you.

Whether you’re a fan of a light and sweet whiff of cologne or a slightly more intense smell of perfume, there’s an abundance of choices that will fit your style and budget.

Elegant Scents Under $75

#5: Learn to do your makeup

Aside from your clothing, the way you look polished in the workplace can be judged by how well-groomed you are. Many may look at makeup and hair styling as a form of vanity. But the reality is, it’s a measure of professional etiquette because it shows that you care about yourself and the image of what you represent (a.k.a. your brand or company)

So for those with a “New and Improved” mindset looking for the next level in their career, make it your goal to learn how to put work-appropriate makeup. Learning and mastering this will boost your confidence to show up at work, ready to face anyone that can bring forth new work challenges.

At some point, your superiors will notice this new-found confidence in you and they might begin to see you as a great candidate to represent the company in bigger and better roles.

RELATED: Classic Everyday Work Makeup Tips

#6: Practice speech or presentation

For many professionals, speaking in front of the team or making a presentation to a client is a regular occurrence.

However, not everyone is as skilled when it comes to delivery. How many times have you caught yourself using word fillers: like, uh, um, you know, right?

If the ‘Old You’ is guilty of this, then it’s time you lay them to rest. There are ways to get rid of these word parasites so you can come out sounding more eloquent, polished, and pleasant.

Tips to Practice Speech

• Find a place you can comfortably practice out loud
• Record yourself speaking
• Try presenting in front of a small, familiar audience (i.e. friends or family)
• Seek the help of an ‘uh’ counter
• Slow down

#7: Improve your responsiveness

Developing strong business relationships is key to a successful career. And if you want your presence to be favored to win more business, one resolution you can incorporate in the “New You” is your communication style.

Enthusiasm

While you should never be over the top with your responses in a professional setting, you should avoid responding with indifference despite how stressful a situation may be. A burnout response can give the wrong impression to your colleagues or clients that you don’t like what you do.

So be mindful of your choice of words and delivery. Make it known that you’re engaged and enthusiastic with your responses by using the right tone and emphasis, as well as punctuation marks, especially in a medium where the other party is not able to discern your true emotions (text messages, fax, email)

Timeliness

At work, it may be easy to push things off until the next day. But to establish an image of trustworthiness, returning calls, emails, and texts in a timely manner is the way to go.

Being time-conscious indicates availability, professionalism, and efficiency. And if you’re not responding right away, chances are your client or customer is tempted to find better service somewhere else.

Concise

While timeliness and energy levels are important measures of excellent communication, the language that the other person understands is equally, if not more, important. Knowing how to be concise in your responses includes the following: avoiding jargon and long, sappy introductions and giving a clear call-to-action.

READ: Email Etiquette for Business Professionals to Make Great Impression

#8: Increase professional knowledge

A large part of self-improvement is about gaining new knowledge so we can have a better handle at things.

So in taking major resolutions to the “New You”, you must commit to self-learning. The investment you put on new materials will have a major impact on your professional growth and may see returns tenfold.

• Complete a short online course.

Nowadays, the vast majority of short courses or MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are made easily accessible. Some of these can be niche courses made by experts themselves such as those offered in Udemy or Masterclass, or university-level courses through platforms like Coursera and edX.

• Read one book every month.

Reading is food for the soul. And if you wish to take yourself to new heights, then reading the right book is one of your tools to take you upwards that path.

Luckily, we live in an age where books can be consumed via reading, listening, or both. Therefore, it can be integrated into your daily routine easily. Start with these books:

• Join local mastermind sessions.

Increasing your professional knowledge doesn’t only have to be self-taught. Sometimes, the best way to learn is through experience. And if you’re not personally experiencing it, then the next best thing is to learn from the experience of others.

To do this, you can actively seek local groups that share the same journey and passion as you. For instance, the real estate industry has plenty of mastermind groups where agents get to share their wins and learnings from their losses. You get to ask questions and get feedback on the projects you wish to tackle on your “New You” journey.

By joining mastermind sessions, you get actionable tips from successful people in your field as well as potentially grow your network for possible collaborations.

#9: Be more intentional with social media

The use of social media as a professional is a necessity for those in the business development side. And if you want to outperform your old self or your competitors, then you need to have a winning strategy for your social media presence.

Tips for Social Media for Professionals

• Plan your content in batch
• Have an aesthetically pleasing profile
• Create stunning visuals using graphic-editing tools
• Schedule your posts in advance
• Post meaningful content
• Make it easy to be discovered

#10: Build genuine connections

Success is never achieved alone. All successful people have had people who help paved their way to the top, be it mentors, associates, employees, or even competitors.

“No one makes it alone.”

And so the last, but certainly not the least, item to include in your “New You” resolutions is effectively connecting with people. There are a number of ways to do this.

Tips to Build Lasting Connections

• Be approachable
• Find common ground with others
• Provide value
• Check-in with important contacts
• Introduce people in your network

READ: Smart Ways Agents Use LinkedIn for Personal Branding

Takeaway

You might not realize it but your lack of presence could be a huge impediment to your career progress. After all, your presence is the essence of who you are. And if it’s not clear to those around you, how can you expect to make an impact?

Thus, every professional can benefit from working on their presence. It improves how others experience you and it helps you build the capacity for a more fulfilling and purposeful life.

Regardless of the timetable, there will always be areas in your life that need improvement. So rather than waiting for the new year, commit to the “New You” resolutions at any given time. It’s practical and realistic and falls within the parameters of long-term growth.