When setting goals for the new year, strive to make them realistic and achievable. While it’s important to challenge yourself, keeping your goals simple and attainable can make it easier to commit to your ideas and find success in achieving your ambitions. Determine what is most important to you and set goals that can help you accomplish those things.

Now that you know what goals to set, consider how to set these goals effectively. Here are some tips for setting New Year’s goals:

Balance your goals. Create a mixture of easier and more difficult goals. Being able to complete the easier goals can motivate you to complete harder ones as well.

Pare down your goals. Instead of setting dozens of goals, consider honing in on which goals are most important to you and do those first. This may allow you to focus on each of these better and improve your achievement odds.

Consider your personal life. Career goals are not always separate from your personal life. Your career goals may affect your personal life and vice versa.

Choose goals that make you happier. It’s great to create goals that can benefit your career directly, but also consider goals that improve your happiness. This can help you excel in many areas of your life.

Track your goals. Tracking your goals allows you to measure your success visually and see what areas might need improvement. This can keep you motivated to reach your goals.

Write your goals down. Keep your goals visible and commit to them by writing them down. This can help you remember your goals and it may make you more likely to achieve them.

Break your goals down. If a goal seems daunting, try breaking it down into smaller steps that are more achievable. This can make it easier to reach your goal.