My Personal Goals for 2025 and My Simple Plan to Actually Achieve Them

Introduction

I'm not someone who typically sets New Year Resolutions, but this year I felt that instead of making a typical 'resolution', I would set personal goals and intentions instead.

The last couple of years have been extremely challenging and have weighed heavily on my mental and physical health. It seemed that challenges came from all areas of life and I hoped and prayed that 2025 would be better. It had to be. As the new year started, I just felt peace and lightness in my soul and I wanted to take advantage of the change.

My theme for 2025 is TRANSFORMATIVE. I want to transform every area of my life: financial, spiritual, relational, mental, professional, emotional, physical, etc. I have identified that these areas are ones in which I need to make changes, whether big or small. I have a lot of goals that I want to achieve and while that is daunting, I'm excited to work on each one as the year continues, so let me share my simple plan to achieve them!

Setting the Stage

In 2024 I had several goals that I wanted to accomplish, and although I made progress on some and achieved others, I wouldn't say that it was successful year. This year, I want to try something different. I think the difference between last year and this year is that I'm getting into the nitty-gritty of planning and creating action steps which will help me achieve my goals by breaking them down into digestible steps. Instead of just hoping that I'll "figure things out" or "make it happen", I'm setting myself up for success. If you want some goal ideas and a simple plan to achieve them, keep reading!

Defining My Goals

I've divided my goals into 7 main categories to help me conceptualize and manage them.

1. Financial

   1. Add $1000 to my emergency fund by the end of the year

   2. Pay at least $150 toward credit card debt each month

2. Spiritual

   1. Have devotional/prayer time every morning

   2. Volunteer at least once a month (church, community organizations, etc.)

3. Relational

   1. Check-in more frequently with my friends

   2. Practice vulnerability by being transparent, not just honest

4. Mental

   1. Read at least one personal development/self-help/non-fiction book per month

   2. Limit social media use to 1 hour per day; limit TV/movies to 2 hours per day

5. Professional

   1. Publish at least one blog post per month

   2. Listen/watch/read at least one piece of media related to professional areas per week

6. Emotional

   1. Journal at least once a week

   2. Attend at least one therapy session per month

   3. Set boundaries to protect my energy (practice saying 'no')

7. Physical

   1. Cook/eat at least 12 homemade meals per week

   2. Drink one big glass of water upon waking up

   3. Wake up at 5 am on weekdays

   4. Go to the gym 5 days a week (Mon-Fri)

   5. Reach my goal of 160 lbs

Strategies for Success

Since I have a lot of goals that I want to accomplish in 2025, there are several strategies I'm implementing to support my success.

1. Break Down Your Goals into Actionable Items

   Some of these goals seem a bit intimidating or difficult to achieve just by looking at them.

   
   

   For example, 'Add $1000, to my emergency fund by the end of the year' sounds daunting without a solid plan. Let's see how we can break it into smaller steps or add support to make it more achievable.

   
   

   Add $1,000 to my Emergency Fund by the End of the Year

   - Determine how often to transfer money into savings (weekly, biweekly, monthly)

   *I'm going to transfer monthly

   - Set up automatic transfers on a specific date

   *1st of the month

   - Track progress

   *How much have I saved in the last 3 months? 6 months?

   
   

   By breaking the goal down into smaller steps, I am more likely to achieve this goal because the action steps feel more attainable and they promote consistency.

   
   

2. Develop Healthy Habits To Support Your Goals

   In addition to creating actionable steps, developing healthy habits (or breaking unhealthy habits) can support your goals.

   
   

   Continuing with the example above, starting a habit of checking my list of subscriptions consistently can help me eliminate unnecessary spending. Tracking my subscriptions with Rocket Money and using their tips/tools to help me cancel subscriptions I'm not using or are not worth the money can help me to save hundreds, yes HUNDREDS of dollars per year.

   
   

   Another habit I want to implement which sounds counterintuitive is paying more toward my credit cards each money to reduce the amount of interest I have to pay and reduce my balance faster. So although I'm spending more money on the front end, I'll end up saving more money on the back end.

   
   

   This year, I knew that to reach my goals, I had to create a concrete and realistic budget and stick to it. In previous years I had tried to create budgets or had used various apps to help me track my spending and create a budget, but they hadn't worked. Although I still don't think I've found the 'perfect' system, Rocket Money has helped me tremendously and I'm only paying $6/month for the subscription. The app helps you to create a budget, track subscriptions, and help you lower bills/utilities, create savings goals, and create a plan based on your checking account balance, it monitors your credit score and overall debt, tracks investments, and lets you know how much money you'll have left to save based on earnings, bills/utilities, and current spending.

   
   

   Other habits would be helpful to implement or break (the number of times I eat out each month) to support my goals, but trying to change too many habits at once can be overwhelming. It's better to successfully change a couple of goals than to inadequately change a ton of goals.

3. The importance of Written Goals for Self-Assessment

   According to "The Impact of Commitment, Accountability, and Written Goals on Goal Achievement" by Dr. Gail Matthews, the results showed that those who write down their goals were more likely to achieve them than those who did not.

   
   

   This is especially helpful when it comes to self-assessment. It's hard to remember, reflect on, and review your goals if you have not written them down. Having a physical copy allows me to refine or adjust my goals as well as keep them fresh in my mind as the year continues. I can keep track of the progress I've made and make changes as needed.

4. Share Your Goals with Others

   According to the same study I mentioned above, Dr. Matthews found that those who had an accountability partner to whom they sent their goals and action commitments, achieved even more than those who had simply written down their goals. There is power in community!

   
   

   Sharing your goals with others allows them to support you through prayer, encouragement, motivation, tough love, tips, guidance, mentorship, etc. You can set up consistent check-ins to maintain accountability. I shared my goals with a good group of friends a couple of weeks ago because I wanted support through prayer and accountability. It's hard to achieve your goals on your own, but when supported by a community, it becomes easier.

   
   

5. Gather Data from Others Who Have Been in Your Shoes

   Another resource I've found helpful, especially when it comes to trying new things, is gathering data from others through their challenges and successes. This doesn't have to be with someone you are friends with; you can listen to a podcast, watch a YouTube video, read a book, follow a relevant creator on social media, or connect with something in your church, community, or at work.

   
   

   I have gotten into podcasts in the last couple of years so I subscribe to podcasts about a wide range of topics from mindset to blogging to psychology, to relationships...whatever is relevant to you. There are people with a wealth of knowledge out there if you just take the time to look and ask around.

   
   

   Take advantage of opportunities to connect with others who have "made it to the other side." Hearing how they managed difficult decisions, became disciplined, created a sustainable routine, created actionable steps to achieve their goals, and overcame obstacles or setbacks, can provide so much motivation, encouragement, and relief.

Looking Ahead

I'm super excited to make progress on my goals for 2025. I hope this post gave you some ideas of goals you might want to work on this year and provided you with a simple plan to achieve them.

Although I'm feeling pumped and motivated in January, there's no guarantee I'll feel the same way in June. Looking back and seeing how far I've come and adding in extra support when needed is going to be key in sustaining my progress over the year. These types of changes take time and often require a lot of energy, whether that be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. I'm practicing giving myself grace when I do have setbacks and reminding myself that progress is not linear. I may have some ups and downs and loop-de-loops, but what matters is that I keep going, I don't give up.

Instead of seeing challenges as obstacles as a sign that I'm failing, I'm choosing to see them as learning opportunities, ways in which I can strengthen and grow my discipline and resilience.

Conclusion

Now that I've shared my goals and plan for 2025, what do you want to accomplish or work on this year? Take some time to reflect on last year and ways you want to improve and see growth within yourself this year. Everyone has something to work on; it just might take some self-reflection to figure out what it is. I invite, no, I challenge you to pick at least one goal to work on in 2025 and use some of the strategies I shared to achieve it by the end of this year. We're all in this together!