Identifying your strategic goals for the year ahead will help you make the most of your time, especially as the year gets busier.

Each year feels like it goes faster than the last, yet there’s something about a brand new year that feels like anything is possible. If you are interested in driving your career to the next level, the new year gives you 365 days to make major progress. Or so it seems. Rather than list a bunch of vague ideas of what you’d like to accomplish, the best thing you can do is consider your top five or six goals and chart your path forward to reach them. 

For working parents of young kids, the year is filled with activities, milestones, and exciting firsts that fill life with a joy and wonder that didn’t seem possible before. It’s easy to get lost in the excitement, and that’s not a bad thing. Taking time to be with family is an important part of feeling balanced and connected. At the same time, it’s okay to want to feel like you are making progress with where you want your professional life to go.

Here are five easy ways to further develop your career this year:

1. Take stock of the past year and celebrate your wins

Before launching into your goals for the year ahead, take some time and reflect on the year you just finished. Did you reach your goals? Why or why not? If you had a set-back along the way, think about what happened. Take the time to consider what you went through in the year. A lot can happen in one year and sometimes goals get sidelined, and that’s just the way it goes. There’s no sense feeling deterred if you are trying your best. If you identified goals that you didn’t get too, take note of them. Were they too big? Did you have the necessary resources to realistically achieve them? For a lot of goals, a person needs time and sometimes money to reach them, two resources that can be challenging to acquire. 

But don’t forget to take a moment to celebrate your wins. With all the pressures of a modern professional, meeting even some of your goals is worth a pat on the back.

2. Identify your long-term career priorities 

Goals are tools to help you reach your higher-level objectives and visions. Before you craft your goals for the year, take a moment to think about where you want to go. Most likely it will take longer than a year to get there. Having a personal vision statement handy that you can refer to and update annually will help keep you on track.

3. Write your top five or six goals that are specific and time-bound

As mentioned earlier in number one, you may have some residual goals from last year that you didn’t meet. Now’s the time to reassess them. Did you lack the time to reach them? Maybe your goal this year is to make more time for this particular goal. Or maybe the goal didn’t resonate and needs to be turfed to make way for something more strategically attuned with your vision.

Once you are finished reviewing last year’s unmet goals, think about what you can do to meet your objectives for this year. It’s important for goals to be big, but also achievable with the time and resources you have. Take some time with this step to really drill down into what you want to do.

4. Break down the steps you are going to take to meet your goals into smaller task

While it’s important to think and dream big, identifying ways to tackle your goals in smaller pieces will help you be more successful. One way to do this is by breaking your goal into small, achievable tasks. This process will also make you work more intentional because you will have a clear focus. 

5. Set your plan and don’t forget to check in regularly 

Setting up regular check-in times to see your progress with your goals is one surefire way to set yourself up for success. Reviewing your goals doesn’t have to take a long time, but it’s an important way to ensure they are front of mind throughout the year.

It’s never too late to start meeting your annual goals.