As we move toward the end of the year, it seems natural to both look back and look ahead. Perhaps the holidays cause us to reflect. Possible New Year’s resolutions may be swimming through your mind. What will the next year hold for you, your family and your career? What will you make of it?

Some of us get excited about the possibilities. We enjoy plotting the course and look forward to setting our sights on new heights. We are eager to set and pursue our goals. Others may be a bit more apprehensive. Hopefully, you’ll decide the journey is worth the risks. 

A lack of initiative and effort will never lead to success. That’s what I’ve learned. A failure to plan is a plan to fail. No one has ever coasted his or her way up Mt. Everest. No CEO drifted their way to the top.  No one became a pitcher in the Major Leagues by accident. If you don’t know where you’re going, then any road will take you there. To keep us from ending up nowhere, we must plan to pursue something.

It is my recommendation that we each put our fears aside, and not set just any goal, but set a big, scary, risky goal. Go big or go home, as the saying goes. What have we to lose? So what if we don’t quite make it all the way or on time? We’ll certainly be further along than when we began, so long as we continue the journey. Be bold! Those who do will be handsomely rewarded.

I encourage you to be courageous enough to set a big goal for 2015 (and beyond) because big, scary, risky goals:

#1 Spark Progress

Nothing will get you up off the couch like a huge goal that demands energy, resources and effort. Huge goals require you to run toward them at every opportunity. There is no time for sitting on your haunches. Envisioning the path and finish line fuels you to move forward every single day.

#2 Breed Laser-Like Intensity

With such an audacious goal, you can’t be willy nilly with your effort. You’d never reach the finish line. A goal like this challenges you to really lock in with your focus and intensity. These kind of goals force you to be efficient with the energy you put into making progress. They force you to be strategic and calculated, keeping your eye on the target.

#3 Cultivate Commitment

Once you commit to take on a sizable goal and you share your goal with a few insiders, it has a way of grabbing you by the throat…in a good way. A big, hairy goal compels you to stay the course. It calls on your strengths and passions. You can’t help but to go all in!

Do yourself a favor; let your mind dream for a few minutes. Jot a few notes down about where it wanders. I believe that we are each created to do great things. What might those be? Step out into the unknown in 2015 and, to paraphrase Elenor Roosevelt, do something that scares you. When you set that big, scary, risky goal, you’ll reap some amazing rewards along the path of pursuing them. Trust me. Now, Go Big!

Question: How do you feel about setting goals? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments sections below.