Every year as January approaches, many people take the opportunity to sit down and prepare a list of lifestyle changes they hope to make. In addition to creating personal resolutions, it’s also a good time to set career goals for the upcoming year. These goals can be as simple as keeping your desk organized, or they can be overarching scenarios like work towards your next promotion. While setting goals is important, many well-intentioned individuals fail to stick to their resolutions within the first few weeks of a new year. What strategies can you implement to ensure you remain goal-oriented? Follow this list to learn ways you can keep your career goals intact.

Clarify and set your goals

Set goals with clear intentions and create a path that will help you achieve success. Sit down and think about what you want to accomplish in the coming year, month, week. Make sure they are specific, concrete, and measurable, since vague goals are more likely to fail. Allowing yourself time to think about what steps you can take to be successful in your job will do wonders for the longevity of your objectives.

Create a plan

Perhaps one of the most important steps to reaching your career-goal finish line is to create a plan of action. Base your action plan on the objectives you set, and give yourself a time frame so your goals remain attainable, pertinent, and quantifiable. Larger goals should be broken down into smaller tasks to avoid getting overwhelmed, which can ultimately lead to failure.

Keep yourself accountable

Finally, you must hold yourself accountable or you may never reach your future career goals. You may hit a few roadblocks along the way, but if you work towards solutions to various issues, you will have a much easier time navigating through goal completion. Constantly remind yourself of your goals in order to motivate and inspire you throughout the process.

How will you maintain your career aspirations this year and beyond? How will you overcome any challenges that you foresee?