As a new year begins, goal-setting and self-improvement are on a lot of people’s minds. You’ve already been thinking about setting some new goals or resolutions for 2018, and it’s time to start moving forward to achieve them. But how can you make 2018 your best year ever? What are the keys to improving your life? There are a lot of ways to answer that question, but the three top tips for self-development are these:

Know Who You Are and What You Want

Improving your life begins with self-realization. Many of your past failed attempts at goal achievement were due to the fact that you were chasing someone else’s goals rather than pursuing your own path in life. It doesn’t take a psychic to know that. We’ve all made that mistake. So to make real progress this year, you need to be very clear about what you really want in life.

There are a million people out there trying to tell you what to do, what to be, what to buy, what to wear and how to live. It will take some effort, but you need to start ignoring all those messages that are constantly bombarding you so that you can gain some clarity about what really makes you happy.

Fuel Your Motivation

Once you’ve begun to set some clear goals based on your true identity, values and desires, it is time to gas up your car, so to speak. You know where you want to go in life, and you’ve mapped out a plan to get there. So it’s time to fill up your motivation tank for the long trip ahead.

Start by feeding your mind with motivational content in whatever forms interest you. You can watch motivational videos, read self-help blogs and books or listen to podcasts on a site like The 200 Project. Spend a little time every morning getting your mind fueled up for the day with some positive energy.

Take Action Every Single Day

Once you have set your true goals, made plans on how to achieve them and are boosting your motivation daily, all that is left is the most important part—action. This is where most people fail. They set goals. They think about their goals. They make plans. They watch videos and blogs. But they don’t take any real action, because they feel intimidated. Or maybe it’s because they chose goals to please others instead of to fulfill their own purposes in life.

But with a true sense of self-identity and goals that you really own, the action is the missing key. You must discipline yourself to take action every day. Some days it will be easy, and motivation will be high. On other days, you might have doubts or distractions that push you off course. Fight the urge to quit or to lose traction. Every day, do something big or small that moves you one step closer to your goals.

Improving Your Life Requires Discipline

Improving any aspect of your life is fairly simple, once you know what you really want in life. Know yourself, set clear and measurable goals, feed your motivation and then take action!