Have you sat down to construct your goals and resolutions for a very near and upcoming 2017? Are your personal and professional objectives on paper (or in a word doc), just waiting to come to life with that fervor and action you “commit” to each passing year? If so, you’re certainly ahead of the game.

Research suggests that fewer people these days actually make (and fewer still) carry out their New Year’s goals and resolutions. Even if you’re not so keen on making (or keeping) personal resolutions, setting them for your professional life isn’t such a bad idea.

Your Career in Preview

Staying static in your current career spot may be comfortable, but not likely to help you climb the corporate ladder or shatter that glass ceiling. Consider the following questions to help create your career-boosting resolutions so you hit the ground running as you ring in the new year:

• How can you grow professionally?

• What actions can you take to help grow your organization or business reach?

• What opportunities are likely to rise throughout the year? For example, is someone retiring, moving or looking for a promotion?

• Are you achieving career satisfaction? Why or why not? What factors would you change about your current position and what would, in fact, help you experience career bliss?

• Create a career timeline. Look at where you started, where you are now and where you ultimately want to land. What steps can you take this upcoming year to propel your career in that direction?

Goals and resolutions, whether personal or professional, help drive us to achieve, succeed and become the people we ultimately wish to be. The key, however, is to use them to our advantage rather than allow them to foster disappoint, diminished self-confidence or feelings of coming-up-short when we fail to reach said objectives.

Be Realistic, But Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Though it’s important to remember is to set realistic and attainable goals, having a lofty goal or two won’t hurt. Big aspirations are often what drives us to achieve things we never thought we could. However, also keep in mind that life happens sometimes, and goals set December 31^st may stretch, shrink or morph into something entirely different than what you expected.