As we begin a new year it’s a great time to put our thoughts, goals and accomplishments on paper so we can start to take the steps to turn our brainstorming ideas into action. This may seem to be a daunting task, yet it will be beneficial in the long run to achieving your potential. When you evaluate all you have completed during your life, and you are not sure where you are going next, you need to spend some time reflecting and researching the possibilities.

Consider this two-step process to assessing your goals and taking action:

1. When we look at all we’ve accomplished, and put it to paper, most of us have achieved much more than we think. In “The Success Principles, How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be,” Jack Canfield recommends dividing your age into three groups and then making a list of your achievements in each of those age groups. For example if you are 45, you would identify what you accomplished in your first 15 years, then from 16 to 30, and then most recently. It could be anything you’re proud of, or that took continued discipline like receiving recognition for community volunteer service, graduating high school, completing a master’s degree, backpacking through Europe or starting a family.

When we put all we have done to paper, we can see that we have made major strides, as well as choices that have allowed us to grow. Though some achievements may not seem monumental when we are feeling out of touch and are not sure what we want to do next, it’s important to recognize we have succeeded in major areas more than we might recall. By taking the steps to map out goals for the future, it’s good to review our former accomplishments and know they didn’t happen overnight.

2. The next step is to decide where we want our life to take us and what exactly that looks like. Just reviewing or starting a bucket list can be a good start to get motivated to take action and stay focused. Once you have a visual in mind as to where you see yourself in the next one, five or 15 years, you can begin to outline the necessary steps to reach your goals. Know some things might change along the way and different influences might take you in another direction, and this is fine. Just be sure you stay fluid and resilient to adapting to change.

Push out the fear and take the plunge this year. Reflect on what you have achieved and where you want to set your goals moving forward. This is the year to maximize who you are, what you do and where you go. Let’s push ourselves to the limits so we can win big and fulfill more of our life goals moving forward.