A different approach to goal setting in 2025

Here are my goals for the new year...

Jan 04, 2025

It’s 2025 — so happy new year to everyone and thanks for checking out my FIRST blog of the year. In 2025, I want to go weekly with these posts, as opposed to fortnightly. So I’m going to be writing a lot more.

Fittingly, my first post for the year is about goal setting (not resolutions) for 2025, and the way I’m reframing goals this year to avoid disappointment and failure.

I think one of the main reasons our resolutions fall flat almost every year is because frequently we set numerical goals that are often unattainable. Goals like, “I want to do x amount of y every week” or “I’m going to do x every single day.” As soon as you miss a day or a week, you feel like you’ve failed, and you stop.

Instead, when setting goals for the year ahead, I decided to ask myself the following questions:

What kind of person do I want to be in 2025 (and beyond)?
What are things I’d like to do more of, do less of, or keep doing in 2025?
At the start of 2026, if I looked back on what I had done, what would make me proud of myself?

And so, in the interest of full transparency, these are the goals I’ve set for the year.

PHYSICAL HEALTH

In 2024, I noticed that I stopped caring much about my weight and physical health, and I want to be more conscious of these things this year. I would like to lose some weight over this year and have a more sustainable diet. I don’t want to force myself to do this quickly. I want to make smaller, incremental changes to my lifestyle.

I want to be more conscious about the kinds of foods I eat, my general calorie intake and how my body responds to different inputs. That being said, I still want to be able to enjoy food and sometimes eat ‘unhealthy’ foods that I like.

In 2024, my sleep was probably the best it has ever been. I set regular sleep times and wake times and stuck to them, and it really helped me feel energized during the day. Reading before bed helps to put me to sleep, and often I fall asleep within minutes of putting down my book, which has never been the case. I’d like to keep maintaining these good sleep habits.

MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING

The Simpsons Season 29 Episode 2 Review - The TV Ratings Guide

In 2024, I made sure I was prioritizing my mental wellbeing and regularly saw a therapist. I want to continue this in 2025 as I realise the connections that I’m able to make in dedicated therapy are instrumental to my success and day-to-day happiness. I want to continue being mindful of my habits and experimenting with change to see how my brain and body respond.

I’d also like to keep working on my self-confidence and self-value. I spent a lot of time in the first half of the 2020s being self-deprecating and self-critical, but I want to be confident about my skills and who I am. I want to back myself and believe in myself and my ability to achieve — and I’ll follow this up in career related goals.

FINANCIAL

Ten Million Dollars - South Park (Video Clip) | South Park Studios Global

My key financial goals for 2025 are to continue saving as much money as possible, and resisting the urge to buy unneeded things. I want to have as much money saved as possible with the goal of entering the property market in the next two years. Purchasing a property for us to live in is the next big, long-term goal for me.

I’d also like to continue investing in 2025, and building my existing share portfolio. I want to ensure I’m investing every single month in order to get maximum growth out of my money long term. My goal is to build compounding wealth over time so that in 30-40 years I can have a much more relaxed lifestyle.

I also want to continue finding unique or creative ways to bring in extra income and experiment with these, while taking small risks to see what the return might be.

CAREER

DAILY DIRT: 'When you look annoyed all the time, people think that you're busy' – Muddy River News

I want to continue building my media production business which brings in the majority of my income. I want to do the best work I can do for my clients and make sure they are happy. I want to build a website for my business to legitimise it a bit more, and I want to continue posting about my work on LinkedIn.

Currently, I feel as though I have a strong clientele, and I’m so excited about the teams I’m working with. I am always interested in fostering new relationships and offering my services to new people to help them make cool stuff.

CREATIVE

2024 was such a massive year for me creatively. I left a long-term role because I no longer felt as creatively fulfilled as I wanted to be, and I also finished up my podcast after 6 years of weekly episodes. On the other hand, I started making regular YouTube videos, which grew my channel, increased revenue and helped me believe in the value of what I’m doing.

I’ve had extremely positive feedback to my YouTube work, so I want to keep doing that in 2025. I’d like to make regular, ongoing YouTube content — 3+ videos a week on the pop culture topics and coverage that I do. In a dream world, I would reach 10,000 subscribers on YouTube, but I won’t beat myself up if that doesn’t happen.

I want to continue working on my blog each week, and posting weekly content reflecting on my life and how things are going. I get a lot of fulfillment out of writing, so I want to keep up the habit and grow more of a readership in 2025.

I’d like to keep doing my podcast with Sam Garlepp, and even do another live show if the opportunity is there. I love doing the podcast and spending time with Sam, so I want to make sure it happens and keep the show alive.

PERSONAL, FAMILY AND RELATIONSHIPS

In 2025, I want to continue spending as much time as possible with the people I love.

I really want to make time for friends, even when I’m tired or not feeling great, because I want to soak up all the time I have with them. I want to continue feeling the preciousness of life and using every minute I can to be happy and enjoy.

I’d like to spend time thinking of creative dates that I can go on with my partner, and make sure to be present with her when we spend time together. I want to spend as much time as possible with my Nonna, and speak with my Mum and Dad pretty much every day.

Woohoo! So those are my goals for 2025 — written down so as to keep me accountable at the end of the year. I’d love to know what your goals are this year and what you’d like to achieve.

In the meantime, I’m all over the internet doing dumb stuff that I think is cool. My most recent YouTube video is a good introduction to my channel so I’d love for you to check it!