Increasing my revenue by $20,000. Buying my dream car in cash. Saving for a house. Landing a dream internship. Funding a site redesign. Hiring subcontractors. Having dream clients. I’m a dream chaser and goal-getter with the best of them. For me, it’s easy to set a goal and plow a path toward it. For others, I know the road is far more challenging. The idea of imagining a life past the current circumstance seems daunting, as the daily tasks of adulting are far more than anyone can handle.

Want to know how to crush your goals for the year? These 5 Tips will get you there.

Find a word for the year. Let this be the driving line for what you do.

Every year I look for a word to simply describe what will serve as the bottom line for my year. For 2017, I chose the word focus. The year before it was risk. This year, my word is abide. Being rooted in faith, it will serve as the driving line for healthy routines, mindfulness, and making sure it’s aligned to the core values for life.

Set goals that are realistic, measurable, and for the long-term investment.

While it’s great to tell yourself you’re going to run in a half-marathon in three months, if you haven’t set foot at the gym and it’s 16 degrees outside, make goals and small wins to serve the purpose of a longer goal. Let’s say your aging and desire to do so gracefully. This could look like rejuvenation of your skin, getting rid of a few excess pounds, or growing in the stamina for hiking with little ones. Look at a big goal and make it specific, measurable, and something that you can run after throughout the year.

Know when you say “Yes,” you’re simultaneously saying “No.”

Here’s the thing about growth and improvement. In order to crush goals and reach intentions, they take time and drive. Your life will need margin and space to see traction. If you’re already battling overwhelm, it’s time to ask what will give. Allow your “Yeses” to be equally as powerful as your “Nos.”

Re-evaluate every few months.

This isn’t intended to be a downward spiral or a moment to be overly introverted. However, there’s beauty in looking back at your goals set at the beginning of the year and see how far you’ve come. This year, I’ve set both personal and professional goals. It’s going to involve a bit of risk. But that’s become the norm around here. By using a simple bulletin board, we allow blank space for growth and evaluate how we’re moving forward each month and quarter.

Know thyself, your creative process, and where you get energy.

When it comes to setting goals, learn things about yourself and the way you operate. For example, with the multiple hates I wear as a one-women design studio, I struggle when sitting still at a desk for hours on end. If it’s a day where I’m able to dedicate the whole day to work, I typically get most of my top three tasks completed in the morning over a good cup of coffee. After lunch (typically when the food coma hits) I decide to spend the afternoon with errands, sourcing, shoots, styling, or a project where I can be up and a bit more active. When it comes to onboarding projects and clients, I’ve automated my client experience where I can guarantee a 48 hour turnaround time for proposals after an initial 30 minute conference call. When a proposal is approved, I find loads of life and spend a substantial amount of time collecting inspiration, ideating, and doing initial sketches. Here is where I get most excited in the project phase and am able to push through the final revisions and close out a project. All this to say, when it comes to intentional goals and crushing them, know where you find energy and know the moments where you’ll need to push through for a final outcome.

How do you set goals? Do you make resolutions or intentions for the next year?