Experts say this is how to set 2025 career goals if you’re feeling burned out
After spending months working toward a career changing goal, a client recently told executive coach Anne Shoemaker that, while she believes it’s what she wants, she’s not sure if she’s in the right place to make any decisions about her goals because she is feeling burned out. Shoemaker’s advice: Do nothing. “When you’re operating from a place of burnout, everything feels like a major lift,” Shoemaker says. “We can’t make great decisions when we’re emotionally and cognitively depleted.” The client expressed relief that Shoemaker had given her permission to do nothing, and Shoemaker and her client agreed to reconvene in late January. Executive coach and leadership consultant Jen Dulin agrees with Shoemaker’s advice because, she says, the biggest mistake is forcing ourselves to set goals when we are feeling burned out. “What we need when we’re setting goals is access to things like creativity, strategic thinking, the ability to execute or think about how we’ll act on our goals, and we don’t have access to those things when we’re in a stressed or burned out place,” Dulin says. According to MyPerfectResume’s Employee Burnout Survey, 88% of respondents report experiencing burnout. However, not everyone has the luxury of doing nothing until late January. Most employees will be tasked with setting goals for 2025 as part of their annual performance review. Here are five ways to set goals this month even if you’re feeling burned out. Set month-by-month goals Focus on what you can achieve by the end of January rather than trying to set goals for the entire year, Shoemaker suggests. “There’s nothing that’s more demoralizing than feeling like we need to dig deep into ourselves from a well that’s too dry to produce,” Shoemaker says. Once you decide on a goal for January, think about what you can achieve in February. Setting month-by-month goals for the next six months feels less overwhelming than trying to set goals for the entire year, Shoemaker says. Set the right mood Before you sit down to think about goals, change your physiology, Dulin recommends. Try breathing deeply, going for a walk, or listening to music. “We can’t think our way out of stress,” Dulin says, “so just sitting down and grinding through it won’t lend itself to very meaningful goals.” Dulin also warns against squeezing in goal setting sessions in between meetings. “Setting goals requires the right side and left side of our brain, so we need to create a little bit of space before we physically sit down and do it so that we’re not feeling rushed or overly stressed,” she says. Find inspiration Don’t confine your goal-setting sessions to your office or your office hours, Dulin says. Notice when you have the best energy to do creative work and schedule your goal setting session for that time. If you’re inspired by something you read or a podcast you’re listening to, jot down notes. Go somewhere that energizes you and makes you feel comfortable and creative—a museum, a coffeeshop, a favorite hiking trail. “Find a place that you feel connected to or inspired by,” Dulin says. Allow for different levels of progress Build into your goals permission to meet different levels of progress. Make allowances for what you’re capable of on days when you’re feeling replenished versus days when the tank is completely empty, says leadership and career coach Phoebe Gavin. Keep in mind that there is progress that requires five minutes of work versus an hour versus half a day versus a weekend, she says. “Expect to fail and expect failure to be part of the process,” Gavin says. It’s not about how long you can up your streak of meeting your goal but how quickly you can go back to trying to meet it again when you miss the mark in some way. Examine the cause of your burnout Burnout can be caused by different factors, so if you want to remedy burnout, you need to determine the source, Gavin says. Is your burnout related to mental or physical depletion? Burnout can be related to boredom when you’re not being challenged at work, or it can be related to values misalignment. Those are very different problems, and the solution for one won’t solve the other, she says. “Figure out what needs to change for you to not feel worse and what sorts of things you need to do to start to get better, and make space in your life for those things, even if it’s difficult to do in the beginning,” Gavin says.
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After spending months working toward a career changing goal, a client recently told executive coach Anne Shoemaker that, while she believes it’s what she wants, she’s not sure if she’s in the right place to make any decisions about her goals because she is feeling burned out.
Shoemaker’s advice: Do nothing.
“When you’re operating from a place of burnout, everything feels like a major lift,” Shoemaker says. “We can’t make great decisions when we’re emotionally and cognitively depleted.” The client expressed relief that Shoemaker had given her permission to do nothing, and Shoemaker and her client agreed to reconvene in late January.
Executive coach and leadership consultant Jen Dulin agrees with Shoemaker’s advice because, she says, the biggest mistake is forcing ourselves to set goals when we are feeling burned out.
“What we need when we’re setting goals is access to things like creativity, strategic thinking, the ability to execute or think about how we’ll act on our goals, and we don’t have access to those things when we’re in a stressed or burned out place,” Dulin says.
According to MyPerfectResume’s Employee Burnout Survey, 88% of respondents report experiencing burnout.
However, not everyone has the luxury of doing nothing until late January. Most employees will be tasked with setting goals for 2025 as part of their annual performance review. Here are five ways to set goals this month even if you’re feeling burned out.
Set month-by-month goals
Focus on what you can achieve by the end of January rather than trying to set goals for the entire year, Shoemaker suggests.
“There’s nothing that’s more demoralizing than feeling like we need to dig deep into ourselves from a well that’s too dry to produce,” Shoemaker says.
Once you decide on a goal for January, think about what you can achieve in February. Setting month-by-month goals for the next six months feels less overwhelming than trying to set goals for the entire year, Shoemaker says.
Set the right mood
Before you sit down to think about goals, change your physiology, Dulin recommends. Try breathing deeply, going for a walk, or listening to music.
“We can’t think our way out of stress,” Dulin says, “so just sitting down and grinding through it won’t lend itself to very meaningful goals.”
Dulin also warns against squeezing in goal setting sessions in between meetings. “Setting goals requires the right side and left side of our brain, so we need to create a little bit of space before we physically sit down and do it so that we’re not feeling rushed or overly stressed,” she says.
Find inspiration
Don’t confine your goal-setting sessions to your office or your office hours, Dulin says. Notice when you have the best energy to do creative work and schedule your goal setting session for that time. If you’re inspired by something you read or a podcast you’re listening to, jot down notes. Go somewhere that energizes you and makes you feel comfortable and creative—a museum, a coffeeshop, a favorite hiking trail. “Find a place that you feel connected to or inspired by,” Dulin says.
Allow for different levels of progress
Build into your goals permission to meet different levels of progress. Make allowances for what you’re capable of on days when you’re feeling replenished versus days when the tank is completely empty, says leadership and career coach Phoebe Gavin. Keep in mind that there is progress that requires five minutes of work versus an hour versus half a day versus a weekend, she says.
“Expect to fail and expect failure to be part of the process,” Gavin says. It’s not about how long you can up your streak of meeting your goal but how quickly you can go back to trying to meet it again when you miss the mark in some way.
Examine the cause of your burnout
Burnout can be caused by different factors, so if you want to remedy burnout, you need to determine the source, Gavin says. Is your burnout related to mental or physical depletion? Burnout can be related to boredom when you’re not being challenged at work, or it can be related to values misalignment. Those are very different problems, and the solution for one won’t solve the other, she says.
“Figure out what needs to change for you to not feel worse and what sorts of things you need to do to start to get better, and make space in your life for those things, even if it’s difficult to do in the beginning,” Gavin says.
