DJHP / Careers
The holiday of goblins and trick-or-treat is upon us. In the realm of consumer spending, The National Retail Federation’s dataprojects that 157 million, or roughly 50% of Americans will celebrate Halloween this year. Total dollars spent are anticipated to reach $6.9 billion dollars.
The holiday also coincides with shorter days and a winding down of the growing season for everyone, including farmers and food producers who are bringing in and assessing the annual harvest. Winter months have less intense field work and offers them more time to assess and plan next year’s bounty.
So once the costumes are shed and the sugar rush has worn off, 4th Quarter is a natural time to evaluate progress toward your career development goals. What do you wish to accomplish in the remainder of this calendar year? Then acknowledge accomplishments you have achieved and begin planning next year from this perspective.
Harvest time. It’s good for sorting and organizing, throwing and recycling, cleaning and de-cluttering.

Here are 3 steps to follow as you harvest your accomplishments this autumn.
Then go trick-or-treating with some little goblins—enjoy your achievements and plant the seeds that will grow in the next year.
Gather the fruits of your labor. List your goals against accomplishments. This is everything you have accomplished this year in both your personal, career and life development plan. Check off all that you have achieved. List what you want to complete by December 31st. Get really clear about your commitment to complete. Get out your calendar—set dates, times, places, and assignments to-be-completed so you can clear your plate, check off your list and feel a sense of satisfaction come year’s-end.
Winnow the wheat from the chaff. In career, business or life, this means letting go of anything that does not serve you, your goals and values. Practice delegating and saying no.Update your communications, change behaviors, refresh your commitments.
Turn with the season. It’s a time to look back and look forward. Reflect on what you want to keep and what you want to complete by the end of the year—harvest what’s working, useful and beautiful; let go of what is no longer useful or relevant. Harvest and celebrate.

Prepare the Ground for the Coming Year. Once you’ve assessed career or business achievements, it’s natural to look forward. Think what you want to manifest in the coming 12-18 months. Just like planting tulip or allium bulbs in a fall garden—that gestate in the winter and come up in the spring—it’s a time to ask yourself the Big Picture questions about the intentions, goals and action steps—the seeds you want to plant now—ideas that will gestate over the holidays, sprout in the spring and blossom throughout the new year.
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Dr. Jan Hoistad
Lead Coach. Business Development Consultant. Thought Leader. Entrepreneur. Author. Dr. Jan Hoistad is passionate about helping professionals, business owners, partners, and teams develop the skills necessary to achieve success and fulfillment in both their occupational pursuits and personal lives.With 35 years of experience, Dr. Hoistad has been a pioneer in the field of professional coaching. She’s advised countless CEO’s, executives, business group heads, emerging leaders, partners, teams, and professionals in career transition and business development, teaching them how to dig deep, and sometimes loosen up, so they can start living by their values, finding their purpose, and achieving their professional and personal goals with intent and confidence.By helping professionals see that personal wholeness is a means to achieving optimum professional performance, Dr. Hoistad provides her clients the tools to become catalysts for change in their own businesses, careers and lives. They learn to leverage their strengths, build on their expertise, and expand their influence to become true innovators in their fields
Dr. Jan Hoistad