Most of us have the best intentions at the beginning of every year. New Year’s resolutions: some are fulfilled, and some, whether through lack of attention or circumstance, never seem to materialize. While we can laugh off some of those well meant intentions, knowing we were never that serious about them, others, such as career goals, should not be thrown by the wayside.

One needs to be realistic about the goals you have set. How far along your plan have your goals advanced? What are your priorities? What are some of the objective causes of lack of progress on our goals?

This late in the year, it would be a good time to reflect on why your career goals objectives are not being met yet and once you can determine why, you can create a new plan or timeframe for moving forward. If you have found that you have not prioritized correctly, there could still be time to readjust your goals and then continue moving forward.

It would be very simple to start feeling the pressure of meeting your career goals as we have less time until the end of this year but this might also just be the impetus needed to work harder and focus more.

Whether you have been side-tracked by obstacles that you could not control, such as perhaps finding yourself being retrenched or having to take extended sick leave, consider that just because you have not met a target does not mean that you won’t. Be confident in your ability to succeed.

Sometimes it is good to just slow down, take a breath and remind yourself why you have set yourself your career goals in the first place.