Loving your career? Take stock for the new year.

This post originally appeared on this site.

2017 is coming to an end and it’s a great time for reflection. One of the biggest areas in our lives we review is our careers. Are we happy and fulfilled with where we currently are? Or is it dreadful just thinking about returning after the holidays? To help you take inventory on how you are feeling, try these tips.

Nature of Role

The first thing you should consider is if you like what you are doing. Make a list of everything you like and everything you dislike with your current job. For this step, focus on tasks only. If you find that your dislike column is much longer than your like column, it may be time to contact a career counsellor!

We can get so ingrained with day to day work that we may not even realise that we don’t like what we are doing. Identify what you can do to change this. Maybe it’s that you can look for new projects to get involved in or delegate certain tasks? Other times you may need to look for a change in role to get excited again.

Pay

Compensation is extremely important and a big focus are you should look at in your reflection. Are you being compensated fairly for the work you are doing? Unfortunately, if you have been with the same company for a few years, you could be below market value for your role.

Do you feel like you are ready to take the next step in your career to reach the next pay level? Perhaps 2018 is the year you take your salary to the next income level. Decide what is right for you.

Environment

Sometimes pay and what you do is great, but you are still unhappy. In this case, consider your work environment. Do you have the autonomy you desire in your role? Are your opinions valued? Do you have a boss you respect and get along with? Environment play a huge factor in overall job satisfaction.

Work life Balance

We spend a ton of time at work, but do you have the ability to work a flexible schedule when needed? Does your boss or company allow the ability work from home from time to time? When unexpected life events come up, do you get support from your company?

Are you expected to answer emails and calls while you are away from the office? We need the ability to turn off our connection to the office from time to time, so having a mismatch on work life balance can really be an issue.

Taking time to think about where you are in your career is helpful to keep you moving in the right direction. Many times people can pinpoint what is wrong, but are not sure how to alter their situation. If you are in need of some expertise in this area, enlist the help of a career coach in Brisbane or by phone or Skype. Plan to make changes in 2018 to get yourself on the track to a career you are excited about!