This year, ambitious experts are getting a head start with their New Year’s resolutions.
From September to December, people pledge to focus on fitness, finance, or career goals, on a social media trend known as the “lock-in season.”
For Khadyajah Jenkins, the trends are nothing new. It’s just the Q4 concept of a corporate calendar packaged on social media,” says a former technical recruiter at Penn State and a current doctoral student.
Still, she says the lock-in season is a fitting time to focus on “deliberate ideas” of future plans, from securing promotions to growing the platform. She shares strategies to make the most of her Tiktok trends, which she has over 60,000 followers.
According to executive coach Ally Stark, the lock-in season is characterized by an increase in “discipline and momentum.” With the end of the year approaching, many people have moved to high gear to meet their annual goals, she says.
“There’s that energy. “I had these goals I set myself all year round, and now I have four months to achieve them, so how do I make them come true?”
“Lock-in” to your career goal
Career growth is a top priority for young professionals joining the trend, according to Amanda Augustine, career coach and spokesman for Resume.ai.
Based on an analysis of lock-in season content on social media, resume.ai found that workers focus on updating their LinkedIn profiles, tracking their achievements and honing their skills more than they did in the New Year.
Given the challenging labor market, many workers are taking steps to maximize job safety, Augustine said.
“Everyone looks at the headlines and layoffs and says, ‘How can I make myself as valuable as possible?'” she says. “If there’s an opportunity they haven’t explored before, they’re now trying to move in that direction and take advantage of what’s available.”
How to make the most of the lock-in season
In theory, focusing on work is a great idea, but there are pitfalls to this trend.
According to Stark, the lock-in season is rooted in “a sense of security and control” in “a sense of uncertainty” within the collective feelings of uncertainty.”
“Bow your head” and immerse yourself in your work is fascinating, says Stark, but if you’re too strong, there’s “a great possibility of burnout.”
Setting manageable goals is important to avoid running out of yourself, Stark says.
“I think it’s really important to be realistic about the fact that they’re going to be non-linear,” she says. “When you actually want to achieve your goals or create changes in behavior or habits, it doesn’t happen overnight.”
According to Jenkins, when it comes to navigating the lock-in season, “sustainability needs to be in front of the mind.” Most of the advice she sees on social media tends to be “very gimmick,” she says.
“People put pedals in metal, but they don’t think about it. What does week 1 look like? What does week 2 look like? She says.
Instead, Jenkins recommends getting closer to your goals through a two-week intensive work sprint. After each sprint, she says she will take the time to analyze your results and incorporate those insights into her next two weeks of planning.
“Thinking about this through a strategic framework allows people to be more intentional,” says Jenkins.
It is equally important to take a break and reflect after each sprint. “You have to give them time to think about what you want,” she says.
Despite the focus on year-end goals of the lock-in season, don’t put pressure on completing your entire to-do list in this time frame, Stark says.
“It feels like we live in a culture where we have forgotten that good things take time,” she says.
“It’s great to feel motivated. I’m really involved in the idea of starting autumn,” Stark continues. “But you need to check in yourself to some degree.”
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