25 for 2025
By Rob Coles
Resolutions and goals - big and hairy, SMART or otherwise didn’t work for me. I’m using “25 for 2025” instead.
It’s that time of the year again. The internet is full of annual reviews, resolutions, goal setting and other serious-looking planning by people who seem to have their life way more together than me. I have tried and failed at resolutions, SMART goals, Big Hairy Audacious Goals and most of the other methods I’ve tried. What has stuck, and I am only semi-failing at, is the idea of xx for 20xx (I started with 19 for 2019) - picking a matching number of things to do in the year. These can be big or small, personal or business-related. Some would count as goals but I don’t think of them that way. I think of them as things I want to do, improve or learn.
This was inspired by listening to the “Happier” podcast by Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft. The episode where they discus their 24 for 2024 lists is here.
I have been doing this since 2019 and it has been the most successful method I have tried. I have managed to complete the majority of the items on the list each year. I have also added some items to the list that I hadn’t thought of at the start of the year. Having (and regularly reviewing) the list has helped me make progress
Some of the entries on my list are repeated from previous years and some are new. The list isn’t set in stone -
Resources:
Gretchen Rubin design your year 2025
Image based on image from vecteezy.com