I don’t know about you, but every year I try to do a little better than the last. We learn new things, make mistakes, experience setbacks, and have breakthroughs. Life often seems like the ebb and flow of a wave, however, amid all of this chaos, if you try hard enough you can manage to make a lot of progress. So much so that you turn around and can hardly believe how far you came in a single year.

But it takes work. And you need to be willing to do the work from the moment the New Year or resolutions starts if you want to create a real transformation in your life. Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

It’s important mentally to leave the year behind. A lot happened, I’m sure, and you probably had your fair share of challenges, but if you hope to make progress this year you need to leave this all behind. This could be something as simple as taking a short walk on the beach and allowing yourself to let the past rest behind you.

Set goals for the year or reevaluate them if you already have. What do you want to accomplish this year? You won’t get very far if you’re not clear on what you want. List important assets you need to accomplish those goals. Chances are, you don’t have everything you need to accomplish your goals. Make a list and figure how you’ll acquire the assets you need to do that such as skills, new contacts, and others.

Reach out to one person that can move your career forward. This is all about building professional connections. Most of us have a hard time bringing ourselves to make that initial contact, let alone build entire new relationships with people. This is about taking that initial step, everything else tends to happen naturally from there, because we’re motivated to continue.

Perform an act of kindness

You’ll notice this doesn’t seem to fit with the theme of this week. However, I’ve found that most of us have lost touch with or never knew the power of helping others without expecting anything in return. This knowledge, and the understanding that you always have the ability to exercise it, doesn’t just make you happier and more fulfilled, it can serve you in your career in a big way. Such acts of kindness are the perfect way to start off a long and beautiful business relationship or personal connection.

Closing thoughts

The Near Year is a chance to start fresh and do something you have never done before. But if your goal is to make real progress, then you have to be willing to do what’s necessary. It takes hard work, persistence to make this thirty-day challenge happen. But if you do? You’ll be strapped to a rocket and ready to make this the best year of your entire life. Whether you follow this thirty-day challenge to adapt your own, use this as a framework for creating the change you want to see in your life this year.