Welcome to your best year ever, friends! (I hope you feel this way – after all, there’s no reason why this year can’t be the best year of your life!)

First thing’s first: to crush your goals this year, you need to SET those goals. Some of you may be nodding your heads saying, “yes, of course!” But you’d be surprised how few people actually set goals… which is crazy because the process of setting and achieving goals is one of the biggest predeterminers of success in the world!

Setting goals is so important – goals help give us tangible scenarios and outcomes to strive for. After all, you can’t jump over the hurdle if you don’t know exactly how high it is, right? Setting goals gives you a greater sense of control and attainability with the dreams and aspirations that you may have. Just the act of writing goals down on paper helps to further define our dreams and to make them more achievable.

But before you put pen to paper, take some time to really think about your goals for this year. Here are 5 goal-setting tips for you to keep in mind for setting and CRUSHING your goals:

1. Determine your why

When we think about goals for the year, it’s easy to jump to the old standbys, like “lose 10 pounds” or “finally write that book!”

But the key to staying motivated and ultimately finding success with the goals we set for ourselves is making sure we have a strong sense of why we want to achieve those goals. In other words, “Why do I want to achieve this goal? Why is it important to me? How will my life be positively impacted by me achieving this goal?”

Being able to tie your goals to a greater “Why” will help increase your chances of success, and keep you motivated by reminding you of the greater ramifications of goal-achievement success.

2. Listen to your gut

When it comes to setting your personal goals, there’s only one person whose opinion matters: yours.

One of the best strategies I’ve come up with for goal-setting is to give the process some time. Start thinking about your goals, start jotting down some ideas, and then marinate on them for a bit.

I find this process becomes especially helpful when any sort of numbers or specific figures are included. Mostly for the reason that it’s REALLY hard to just pick a number out of the air (unless, you’ve already had an idea swimming around in your head for a while).

Plus, giving your goals some time to breathe before locking them in allows you to take a step back and let your gut weigh in on the process: does this feel right?

Developing the skill of being able to tune out the noise and the opinions of others is one of the best things you can do for your own personal ambitions and mental health. Don’t set a goal just because it’s one that your friend mentioned, or it’s one you think you need to do: listen to your gut.

3. Limit yourself to 3 big goals

I’m all for setting lots of goals. In fact, I strongly encourage starting your goal-setting process by brainstorming and jotting down a big list of every possible goal you would want to achieve. But when it comes down to it, you should have three big goals that you’re going to focus on in the new year.

3 is kind of a magic number – anything over it is easily overwhelming, and anything under it doesn’t cover enough bases to help us pursue and attain a well-rounded, fulfilling life.

Furthermore, you can use this rule of three when setting goals if you need help setting goals within major categories of your life. A great guideline to follow here is to create: one relationship-based goal, one financial or achievement-based goal, and one health-based goal – but you don’t HAVE to follow this format.

When you have 3 big goals, it’s easier to keep them top of mind. Which is important because as we know, the most successful people in the world think and talk about their goals all the time. They even write their goals down EVERY day! I strongly encourage you to do the same – over this next year, write your goals down every single day!

4. Specify, specify, specify

The best way to achieve specific results is to set specific goals. What exactly do you want to achieve? When will you achieve it by? Why is it important to you?

The more specific you can be, the more realistic these goals become, and the better your chances for crushing them. A great way to do this to your goals is by applying SMARTY parameters – it’s the classic approach of using SMART goal methodology, but with an extra letter (because we’re fancy like that). Download a free worksheet to apply SMARTY parameters and set your goals for the year here.

5. Plan to succeed (and celebrate)

Finally, one of the last ways to set yourself up for success and to CRUSH your goals this year is to plan to succeed – and to plan to celebrate those successes! Set specific milestones along your path to goal achievement – and make a plan to celebrate those milestones when they are hit. This acts as an additional incentive to keep you motivated and excited about your goals.

With these tips, you’ll be able to set killer specific, attainable, purposeful goals… and then CRUSH them in a year!