2025 is right around the corner, and I believe that if you don’t plan, you plan to fail. However, resolutions never worked for me. I would make a list of ten things I wanted to accomplish but then forget all about them by the time January was over. I’ve been using a process of goal setting for the last couple of years that completely transformed New Year’s resolutions for me. Now, I don’t forget my goals a month into the year. Keep reading to make your goals for 2025 come true.

Resolutions are SO last year

Resolutions suck and it’s because they’re too lofty and never realistic. You can’t sit down and make a resolution that you’ll run a marathon when you’ve never even run a mile before. It’s possible and people have done it, but you have to be honest with yourself. Do you know what it takes to run a marathon? Do you have a training plan? Have you done research and picked a marathon? If your answer is no, then it’s not a realistic goal. This can be applied to any of your resolutions.

Resolutions are setting you up to fail, that’s why we forget about them so quickly. They end up abandoned and then we feel bad because we can never reach our goals. However, the issue isn’t you or me. It’s resolutions.

So then what?

We make goals. Not just any goals though, we make specific, achievable, and relevant goals because we’re cool and creating the life of our dreams. 

Now you’re probably thinking, how is that any different from resolutions? I’ll tell you why. These goals will be broken down into quarters and you have a plan of attack to achieve each goal. With resolutions, most people aren’t creating a plan to achieve each goal. Breaking down those goals is how they become achievable. 

Here’s how:

Step 1:

List out the areas of improvement or areas in which you have goals for the entirety of 2025. Examples: education, work, fitness, health, and so on.

Step 2:

List out specific goals within those areas using this template. Example: run a 5k at this race in August within 30 minutes. Ask yourself if these goals are specific, achievable, and relevant as you make them.

Step 3:

Split 2025 into 4 quarters, each quarter will be 3 months long. Example: Quarter 1 is January, February, and March.

Step 4:

Use this template to create a quarterly plan for your yearly goals in the areas you already specified. This means breaking down your big goal into a small goal that can be reached within a specific quarter. Example: Run a mile without stopping to walk in 11 minutes.

Step 5:

Once you have the what, you need to figure out the how. How are you going to reach that goal? What habits does a person who achieves that goal have? Examples: I will go on a run 2 times a week, I will go to the gym 4 times a week, I will download a running app and sign up for a training plan, etc.

Step 6:

At the end of the quarter, assess your progress. What goals did you achieve? What habits did you implement? If you didn’t achieve the goal fully, how close did you get? Use this assessment to create goals for the next quarter then repeat steps 4-6.

Use my template to get your 2025 in order.

Now we can do the fun stuff!!!!!!

Vision Boards

Vision boards are powerful, just ask Rachel Berry from Glee. She had her vision board front and center where she could check on it every day. We don’t need to be exactly like her, but we do need to be making vision boards. Make your vision board before 2025 gets here with just a couple of steps.

Step 1:

List out the areas of improvement or areas in which you have goals. Examples: education, work, fitness, health, and so on.

Step 2:

List out specific goals within those areas. Example: run a 5k at this race in August within 30 minutes. Ask yourself if these goals are specific, achievable, and relevant as you make them.

Step 3:

Find visual representations of each of those goals. I like to use Pinterest for this step because I make my vision boards on Canva. You can make a physical vision board as well!

Step 4:

Put the images together and create your vision board! This is the fun part because you can be as creative as you want.

Yearly Playlist 

This is something I love doing because I truly believe what you consume is what shapes you. I consume music all day every day. This past year I listened to 54,729 minutes of music….like it’s true. 

I began doing this in 2021 to set the vibes for the new year. I picked 22 songs that would represent me in 2022. Anytime I felt like I wasn’t reaching my goals or was feeling down in 2022, I would put on that playlist and feel connected to myself again. 

This year, I picked 25 songs that have the energy I want to take into the new year. Some songs always make the list because they’re classics, but usually, it’s a completely different list of songs. It’s a great way to see how my music taste changed from year to year but it’s also a great way to manifest. 

For 2025, only Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield and You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home by Hannah Montana made the list again. I feel like I changed a lot this past year so not surprising that I have new things I want to take into 2025. 

Check out my 2025 playlist here.

My notes app this week

A few of my favorite things

good soup doing my makeup laughing with friends snowflakes in my hair chocolate chip cookies lip balm iced lattes in 30-degree weather curated playlists niche hobbies dressing up for no reason new shoes hot chocolate iPad time Pinterest last minute concerts being impulsive but in a responsible way 9:30 am workout class walking in fresh snow loud music in the car dresses in the summertime pasta with vodka sauce baking matcha lattes British accents musicals romance books set in small towns a Moscow mule hugs at the end of the day little surprises holding hands caffeine high writing.

See ya next year!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week!

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