5 in 2025: 5 Goal-Setting Ideas to Live More Purposefully in 2025
It’s that time of year. My actual favorite time of year —- planning time! If you know me, you know I love making a plan. Now, following up on that plan and executing that plan, well…sometimes that’s a different story. That’s why I use a few resources to help me stay focused and track my goals so I can feel accomplished, fulfilled, or simply remember all that happened in a year!
First, I want you to think about what do you actually want this year? Is it to feel more productive? Feel more focused? Feel more enjoyment out of life? All of the above?
Let’s jump into 5 Goal-Setting ideas for you to match with what you want more of! [If you would rather listen to these ideas and the stories behind them instead of read this quick list, jump on over to episode 74 of the What If It Works podcast and listen in as Ann shares some great insight and honesty around her goal-setting journey.]
Want to create more enjoyment and stretch yourself to try something new? Use the 2025 Bingo Card template to write out 24 (or 25) activities to take on in 2025!
I had so much fun brainstorming ideas with my best friend, Jamie, of things I want to check off my list by the end of the year. From trying new things: like learning to crochet, completing a 30-day challenge (What kind of challenge?” you ask, good question), entering into a pickleball tournament or making new recipes that I’ve saved on social media, to doing more of things that I love: 12 out-of-town outings, 1 new restaurant per month, or visiting 5 new Minnesota State Parks. In 2025, I want to do things that build more connection like writing 12 letters to people I love, create opportunities for 12 personal 1-on-1 connections, a sibling hangout day (with just my 3 brothers), and a cousin hangout (there’s like 35 of us but we have so much fun together and I miss them). I’m using my 2025 Bingo card to spur some consistent actions (like monthly no tech days) and some new experiences; like an overnight solo trip and a yurt camping night. Share a fun Bingo Card idea in the comments below!
The 2025 Bucket List
Most people know about the infamous bucket list: a list of things to do before you die. But if I wait until I’m dying to try and make new experiences happen, I wasn’t really living, right? I started creating yearly Bucket Lists with my 7th and 9th grade Leadership Classes when I taught and these were fan-favs of my students. Some have even reached out to me to say they still make a yearly list! I love the idea of checking off fun and new experiences each and every year instead of waiting until you feel like you need to!
I don’t have a bucket list template but it is pretty straight forward. Write the year at the top and as many ideas as you want to try for the year. I usually did 25 to keep things interesting. I highly recommend doing 25 in 2025 as it just feels right.
A Letter From Your Future Self
In 2019, I heard the idea of writing a letter on New Year’s Day to yourself to read on the last day of the year as if you are writing it from the future. On January 1st, 2020, I tried to sit down and do this activity. I started with Date: Dec 31, 2020 and the line: “Ann, you did it!” But that’s all I wrote. Funny how 2020 ended up, that was a pretty good message from my future self. We survived a lot in 2020 and yes, I did it! I tried again in January of 2021 and just could not get over the pressure of knowing what great things were to come for me in the new year. My perfectionism took over and I didn’t want to “get it wrong.” So I didn’t write a letter that year either.
Finally in 2022, I wrote my letter and even sealed it in an envelope with the front reading “Open on Dec 31, 2022.” I hid that letter in my journal, and guess what? I just found it last week! 😅
Now, what’s wild is just last week I read my 2024 letter and had feelings of disappointment that what I said I would accomplish did not come true. However, when I read the 2022 letter, it had THE SAME goals that never happened listed in there too! So in 2025, we are readjusting those goals and finding a new way forward! No more are we making excuses for why they didn’t get done. Instead in 2025, I am focused on the feelings I want to pursue not the accomplishments. I want more passion and more purpose and that is what my 2025 Letter is all about! I’m excited to read it again on Dec 31, feeling full of joy instead of disappointment.
If you’re looking for more purpose in 2025, write that letter to yourself about how you FEEL at the end of the year and the WORK you put in to get there. You can absolutely add some fun milestones if you’d like! It’s your letter and you get to be the author of your story!
Jesse Itzler’s Big Ass Calendar (excuse my French)
I absolutely love Jesse’s mindset about “plan your year instead of letting your year plan you.” He highly suggests writing your plans in INK and sticking with them! Want to see friends more? Great, set a date now and put that on your calendar in INK! Want to do one thing this year that is a defining experience that you’ll take with you forever? Great! Plan your experience, pick a date, and write it in INK.
On my large wall calendar, I put events in ink that serve my business (speaking and coaching experiences), books I’ve read, and places I travel to. This is a great way at the end of the year to reflect on all of the awesomeness in front of you. With a calendar that goes month by month, sometimes you forget what happened as you turned the page. This massive calendar allows you to see everything clearly and plan the next year based on your feelings of this year. I know for me personally, there will be a lot more planned travel in 2025 — Milwaukee, Minnesota State Parks, North Dakota, just to name a few.
The Habit Tracker and One Habit Tracker
If I want to be productive, I pull out a good habit tracker! I’ve changed and shifted this one over the years to be everything I need to have a focused, productive, goal-crushing week! I love seeing the habits colored in at the end of each day and to challenge myself for the next day to color in one from the previous day I missed, or to color in a challenging one again. My personal habit tracker focuses on activities that I know will set me up for success: waking up at 6 am, walking before school drop off, drinking water (I am the worst at this one), reading or writing, and going to bed by 10 pm.
What are some habits that will help set you up for success? Print off the tracker and fill in your own habits to get focused and commit to your goals!
If having more than one habit to track seems counter-productive, pick just one! Use this One Habit Tracker to stay laser focused on hitting your specific goal. Want to read each day to keep your brain sharp and your creativity thriving? Great, just color in a section each time you read. Want to work out to stay physically fit and feel more energized? Wonderful, after that workout each day, color in a section. I’ve followed many women focused on their fitness that use these trackers to really hit their goals and see the habit building each and every day…or week…or month, whichever serves you best!
Which of these 5 ideas are you ready to try in 2025? Grab one or two —- the only thing you must do is get started!
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