When the new year is around the corner, people tend to start finally thinking about what they want to change in their life. For many people, January is the only time they’re struck with inspiration and motivation to change their lives. Personally, I think we should be getting inspired for goal setting all year! But if you like to take advantage of the new year energy and make this year the BEST year, this will be the perfect post for you. We’re going to go through multiple categories and questions, plus ideas of goals you can set, to help you brainstorm your personalized goals for 2025.
Why New Year’s Resolutions SUCK and are stupid (to me)
Most people don’t take their New Year’s resolutions seriously. They plan these massive unattainable goals that they work towards for all of two weeks, then go back to living life how they did before.
I HATE New Year’s resolutions because most people don’t know how to make realistic goals, then complain and complain about their lives.
In reality, I LOVE resolutions because I make attainable goals that I end up achieving, then can look back proudly on my hard work each year. I hope from this post, you can feel the same way and set life changing goals for 2025!
How To Make 2025 Your B*tch
How to organize your goals:
Year long goals are impossible (for most people) because they’re so long that you lose focus easily. Make them more realistic and feasible by making your goals for 2025 either quarterly or monthly durations.
Say you want to run a marathon in November. You got inspired by the NY marathon videos and now you’re going to do it (I think the same thing for like two days every year). If you’ve never been a runner in your life, you need to slowly get into it to build running as a habit. Your goal for January can be to go for one or two runs a week. Then in February, your goal can be 3 runs a week. In March you do 4, etc until you reach your goal. If you say, I’m going to run a marathon in November, then go for a run every day in January, you will burn yourself out and hate running. Nothing will change and you’ll fail!
If you are serious about your goals for 2025, break them down into digestible shorter goals. Remember, most goals are about changing your lifestyle. That is not a quick fix; it’s slow and steady. Take this idea with you as you make your goals. I personally aim for only one or two per category.
Physical Health Goals
One of the main areas where people make goals is in their health or appearance. Here are some questions to help you brainstorm what goals you could potentially make.
Take note of how physically active you are on a daily basis. Are you happy with that amount? How many hours a day do you sit? Do you want to increase or decrease your activity level? What’s the easiest/ your favorite way to be active? This is a great area to work on as it constantly changes throughout different stages.
Do you eat a balanced and moderately clean diet? Are you eating enough veggies? Do you intake enough protein (30g per meal is the goal)? Are there things you want to cut out or find a healthier alternative? Are you getting all the nutrients that your body needs?
Most New Year’s resolutions are about losing weight. Maybe that’s something you are thinking about. Increasing your daily physical activity + eating a little cleaner is the key. The best physical activity you can do is one you enjoy and can do consistently!
Physical Health Goal Ideas:
- Go to a nutritionist and see what supplements you might benefit from.
- Set a daily step goal – start lower, like 5k, then build up til you get wherever you want, like 10k a day.
- Learn how to make sourdough bread.
- Try being vegetarian for a week.
- Try to get more than 30g of protein per meal.
- Sign up for a cool workout class by yourself.
- Cut out soda for a month
- Find a youtube workout challenge to start and complete, whatever duration sounds feasible now to build up your confidence.
- Sign up for a 5k and download a couch to 5k app.
- Try the paleo diet for a week.
- Try out a personal trainer
- See what foods you should eat based on your blood type
Mental Health Goals
Taking care of your brain and how you feel emotionally is super important! Especially as you are planning this in the winter, when life is much less busy and much more lonely.
Are you mentally stimulated in your job or day to day life? Do you give yourself the opportunity to learn often or be challenged in your life? On the flip side of that, do you feel like everything is complacently easy? Or, is there too much challenge and you feel like you’re burning out?
Do a mental check in right now. Do you need to challenge yourself more, or do you need to take something off your plate?
You should have a comfortable amount of challenges in your life in order to grow. It shouldn’t be too easy and boring, yet shouldn’t be so difficult that you’re completely overwhelmed! Especially with all the uncertainty in the world right now! These types of goals for 2025 are vital! Be stimulated and whelmed.
Mental Health Goal Ideas:
- Take a class at your local community college.
- Take a free online Harvard class about something that interests you.
- Go sign up for a library card. Find an interesting book to read or a free class.
- Sign up for therapy or to talk to someone if you need advice.
- Ask your family to help you in a certain area. Have your adult children start cooking once a week or doing their own laundry.
- Try meditating for ten minutes every day for a week.
- Buy a journal to write down how you’re feeling when you have a tough day
- Volunteer at a local shelter to hug or walk an animal.
- Make a charting tracking your average daily emotions
- Buy a coloring book to do when you want to relax.
- Try going 24 hours without social media.
- Ask for help when you don’t want to!
Financial Goals
Taking care of yourself is more important, first and foremost. But finances are pretty important as well. Think about your relationship with money and how you can improve your life financially in 2025.
How much money do you make and how much of it do you know where it’s going? Where does your money go that you like and dislike? Where could you spend less money and save more?
Do you save for retirement? If not, how much can you start contributing now? Do you want to make more money? What skills or time do you have that you could utilize? Is it time to job hop or find a side hustle?
Do you have financial goals that you’re working towards currently? How’s it going? Do you need to start more goals or work harder on the ones you already have?
Finances are something
Finance Goal Ideas:
- Save up X amount for an emergency fund, typically an amount that will cover 3-6 months of critical expenses.
- Open a retirement account, if you don’t already have one.
- Create an Acorns account – it rounds up every expense and invests the change.
- Pay off your credit card in full and on time.
- Max out your Roth IRA for a year.
- Finish paying off that debt you have
- Educate yourself on a financial topic
- Read Tori Dunlap’s Financial Feminist book
- Open a 529 account to save for your kids education
- Buy something cheaper, even though you could have bought the expensive version, in terms of living below your means.
- Investing in high quality, slightly more expensive, pieces, rather than many low quality pieces
- Learn how to cook
- Limit your eating out, to once a week
Passions and Hobbies
My personal meaning of life is to do things that make me happy and make the world a better place. I think finding something that you are truly passionate about is both a gift to you and to the world. Every year I have a hobby related goal to learn some new skill or craft. If you feel like you’re lacking a hobby or something to be passionate about, maybe you’ll find one of your goals for 2025 below!
What hobbies did you have as a kid? What were your strangely specific obsessions? Did you play sports or an instrument that you loved when you were younger? What was your favorite subject in school as a kid? Why and what unit or topic was it that sold it for you? Was there a hobby you’ve always wanted to try, but never got around to doing?
Hobby Goal Ideas
- Do your favorite childhood hobby as an adult
- Learn or relearn how to play the violin, piano, guitar, etc
- Join a league to play softball, tennis, golf, or basketball in my area.
- Watch documentaries about your favorite niche subjects from school.
- Try that hobby you’ve always wanted to pick up
Connection and Relationships
The last are we’re going to look at for our goals for 2025, is your feeling of connection. Feeling connected to your family, your community, and the world. Not trying to get too depressing, but whenever you loose someone in your life whether from death or you just drift apart, you wish you could have done more or spent more time with them. I lost my last grandparent this year, so this one is something I’ve been thinking about a lot. Also, after graduating college, I’ve been learning how to maintain long distance friendships with my college bffs who live states away. Obviously, take what applies to you and your life. Take time in 2025 to prioritize those you love.
Do you have older relatives you wish you spent more time with? Or younger cousins you could take time to mentor and build a relationship with? Have you seen your parents lately? Carve out time to make dinner with them.
Which of your friends have you not seen lately? Could you plan to see them soon, or at least have a phone call to catch up? Are you still up to date on what’s going on in their lives? Do you need to send them flowers, or a card, or order them food for their birthday/other big life event?
Do you feel like a part of your community? In your weekly or monthly schedule, do you have free time you could spend volunteering? Is there a type of volunteering you lean towards doing or enjoy more?
Connection Goal Ideas
- Get dinner with my parents once a month
- Have a monthly coffee catch up with my grandparents
- Spend quality time with my siblings every other month
- Aim to volunteer X hours a month
- Bake a cake for a child in need’s birthday with Cake4Kids
- “Adopt” a kid in need and buy them gifts for the holidays
Conclusion
I encourage you to make one or two REALISTIC goals per category to focus on for 2025. Make this upcoming year your b*tch. Take control to live your life how you actually want, and watch your new life unfold before your eyes.
