Run a 90-Day Career Reset — A Playbook You Can Actually Finish
Burnout isn’t a personality flaw — it’s a design problem. If work has started crowding out life, this 13-week plan helps you redesign your week, regain momentum, and move toward a career that fits your reality. This is an informational guide you can follow with or without WisGrowth.
What to do next (simple start)
- Protect your non-negotiables: sleep, health, family, recovery time.
- Name 3 energisers + 3 drainers from last week. Adjust your week around them.
- Choose one direction to test for 90 days (not forever).
- Ship one small proof artifact weekly (one page / 3–5 minutes).
- Rewrite your story: “What I’m moving toward” in 3 sentences.
💡 Try this next week: rewrite one resume bullet with an action verb + measurable outcome.
If you want help with structure, you can use WisGrowth tools alongside this plan: Career Clarity Quiz and Resume Scanner.
A 13-week program to go from confusion to momentum. Weekly objectives, scripts, and checkpoints you can follow.
Last updated: 29 Dec 2025
What this reset is—and isn’t
This plan is for people with real constraints: a demanding job, family responsibilities, and limited time. It’s not “quit and reinvent yourself” advice. It’s a compact operating system you can run alongside life: pick one direction, upgrade one decisive skill, ship visible proof, and build a pipeline of conversations.
The goal isn’t to change everything at once—it’s to create measured momentum that compounds. When in doubt: narrow the scope, finish the smallest useful version, and move to the next step.
Weeks 1–3: Clarity
Choose a target direction you can commit to for 90 days. You’re not picking a forever identity— you’re making a useful bet you can test. Do a fast personal audit:
- Energizers vs. Drainers: List five tasks that give energy and five that drain it.
- Constraints: Time, money, location, caregiving—write them down so your plan fits real life.
- Target problems: Identify three problems you enjoy solving that employers pay for.
End this phase with a one-page plan: target role family, one skill to upgrade, two proof ideas, and a weekly time budget. If you need a structured starting point, try the Career Fit Questions (they’re designed to surface strengths you under-value).
Weeks 4–7: Capability
Pick one decisive skill (maximum two). Rule: if you can’t demonstrate it in a short artifact, it’s too broad. Examples: “SQL dashboards”, “Landing page CRO”, “Stakeholder mapping”, “User research synthesis”.
- 45-minute practice blocks, 4× per week: one course + two real examples.
- Shadow and copy: rebuild a small public artifact before inventing your own.
- Feedback loop: ask one peer for one improvement, then apply it.
By week 7 you should have one tangible artifact you can show—clean, simple, and relevant. Not perfect, but publishable.
Weeks 8–10: Proof
Now you turn capability into evidence. Ship two micro case studies and one public demo. Keep them short enough for someone to skim.
- Case Study #1 (Work-adjacent): improve something by 10–20% and document baseline → change → result.
- Case Study #2 (Volunteer/friend/business): a tiny, time-boxed improvement you can describe honestly.
- Public Demo: a 3–5 minute walkthrough (Loom or simple page) that shows what you did.
Add metrics and a “what I’d do next” section. This is what hiring managers actually scan for.
Weeks 11–13: Pipeline
Proof is useless if nobody sees it. Now you turn proof into conversations. Skip mass applications—aim for calibrated outreach:
- Shortlist 25 targets: companies/leaders where your proof is relevant.
- Script: “I saw you’re working on X. I built Y that improved Z by 18%. Want the 3-minute summary?”
- Volume: 5–8 genuine messages per week, 2 follow-ups spaced a week apart.
Track weekly: replies, conversations, interviews. Expect a lag—week 12 is often where momentum appears.
Your weekly scorecard (keep it simple)
| Metric | Target | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Focused practice blocks | 4 × 45 min | Skill gains compound with short, specific reps. |
| Shipped artifacts | 1 mini-artifact / week | Visible output beats “learning” in private. |
| Meaningful outreach | 5–8 msgs + follow-ups | Quality conversations create options. |
| Reflection | 15 min Sunday | Decide next week’s smallest useful step. |
Common traps—and how to avoid them
- Too many goals: Pick one bet and one skill. Park the rest for 90 days.
- Course collecting: Learn the minimum, then ship something tiny. Feedback is the teacher.
- Silent job boards: Calibrate early—ask about scope and success criteria in conversations.
- Identity panic: You’re not “starting over”—you’re translating past wins into a new container.
If you want tools alongside this plan (optional)
This guide works on its own. If you want structured tools while executing:
- Career Clarity Quiz — helps you pick a direction you can commit to for 90 days.
- Resume Scanner — checks ATS parsing and clarity (baseline format + role signal).
- Coaching — if you want accountability and feedback.
Kick off your reset this week
One focused hour a day is enough to change your trajectory this quarter. Keep the scope tiny, ship weekly, and let proof do the talking.
Start with the Career Clarity Quiz →