This is the season of ‘the great lock-in’, and for good reason. The year is almost over, and you don’t have anything to show for it yet. All the goals you set for yourself this year were not accomplished.

Now I have been there. I have set goals so many times, and I didn’t accomplish them. I am going to give you the different ways that made me break out of them. Now, these might not work for everyone, but they did work for me, and that is why I am sharing them. So let’s get into it.

1. KNOW YOUR WHY: Most of the time, we are so fixated on having something that looks good, we don’t even know why we want it. When things get hard, we just give up. You have to know why you want that thing. Whether it’s going to the gym or starting a business, if you’re only doing it because it looks good, when things stop looking good or you face a hurdle, you’ll give up. Know your why and let it be about you.

• CREATING SYSTEMS, NOT GOALS: Here’s the thing—when you set a goal, that goal often seems so big that you feel you can’t accomplish it, and after a few weeks, you give up. You need to understand that a goal isn’t just something you do temporarily; it should become part of your lifestyle. Instead of just setting goals, create a system that will help you achieve them. For example, let’s say your goal is to start going to the gym—set a specific time, like evening or morning, and start with just stretching. Build up the habit gradually so you won’t stop.

• Set your goals in quarters, not the full year: This also falls into creating systems, but in a different way. Instead of setting goals for the entire year, write down 3 main goals for the first quarter of the year, or you can create one goal for each area of your life. This will make it easier for you, so instead of your timeline being 12 months, it will be 3 months. Now don’t feel bad if you don’t accomplish the goal you set. Just go over what worked and what didn’t, and then move the goal to the next quarter.

• The 10-minute rule: Sometimes, most of the time, our problem is starting. We are not in the mood, or we don’t feel like it. I found out that if I start something for the first 10 minutes, I never want to leave till I am done. Sometimes all you need to do is start.

• Work on your discipline: Everyone talks about discipline and how it is needed to achieve whatever you want. But I realized that discipline isn’t made; it is built. Build your discipline by doing what you said you would do. No buts and no ifs. Just do it. With that, you will build your discipline and trust yourself better to make decisions.

These are the ways I used this year to build myself up. Now I will not say I am perfect, nobody is, but I am a step better than I was before, and that is the goal: to be better than you were yesterday. I hope you try these tricks and tell me if they worked for you. GOODLUCK!