People's thoughts about work during the first few months of the year often have an impact on what they later achieve.

There are those who are looking forward to the year ahead with energy and enthusiasm. I hear the tall poppy syndrome within you saying "I hate those people!", but let's be honest: we all want a bit of what these guys have got.

Over the past three or four weeks, I've asked a range of inspired people:  "What gives you all that energy?". They all have a goal or focus for the year that is aligned to a broader vision or purpose. The goal could be to help a specific group of people address a challenge or it could be a to develop a skill, habit or attitude during the year.

As a result, they see the challenges and politics the rest of us try and avoid as "part of the process" to achieve their goal.

There are of course those of us who are not looking forward to the work year.

If you are one of those people, you may choose to keep those feelings to yourself. You may be worried about the consequences of a conversation with your employer, conscious of your financial responsibilities, or the timing may not be right to contemplate change.

To enable all of us to get the most from the year ahead, I recommend a  change in thinking. It's to do with how we develop our careers and how we think about career change.  

Too many of us are waiting for our employers to make the first move.

We long ago moved out of the "jobs for life" phase of our labour market. While this has removed an historical safety net it has also given us more choice and freedom in how we work and live than our parents had.

Increased employment choice and mobility means  increased costs and decreased retention and engagement rates for our institutions. Can you imagine how hard it is to be a people manager these days? You have increased performance goals and more disengaged people (with more choice and less loyalty) whose careers you are still required to develop!

I think we have reached the age of individual career development. It's not that we are all "islands", it's just that we won't be able to rely on organisations as we have in the past.

I call this new phase "design your own career". I believe it's going to define the next 50 years of work.

This is what it will mean for you:

1. You are responsible for your own career - not kinda, not sort of, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE. You need to invest time and money in understanding who you are, developing your natural talents and skills. You're responsible for decisions about who you want to work with and what you will make or create. If you don't take responsibility, the risk is that you won't make the most of the time you've got.

2. Your career story is unique - except for the core leadership staff, organisations of the future will hire you for much shorter term projects, and you'll need to develop an overall career purpose and trajectory to knit together your roles and projects into a career story that has meaning to you and a prospective employer.

3. You are always changing - traditional career planning used to be a bit like traditional corporate strategy. Create your career plan once and then it sits on the shelf for the next three years, until you were forced by a merger, redundancy, life change, or a failed project or role. Develop a plan that changes as you do, one that balances your unique personality, talents and passions with your financial and lifestyle goals.

Andrew Pepar is an executive coach and entrepreneur. He has developed a technology-based career change program for the "design your own career" era. Visit growingentrepreneurs.com.au.