Setting Goals For Success in 2025
2024 was the year I started this business. The first six months have been filled with plenty of highs and lows. It’s been a bit of a blurry rollercoaster; something I hear many business owners saying but it’s hard to appreciate the true feeling until you are going through it yourself. I am a goal setter. Each year I love to make goals and create a vision board, it’s one of my favourite things to start the new year off right, but in 2024 I only achieved one goal that I set, and setting up my business wasn’t even on the cards in January. It’s safe to say that I got swept up with the chaos and just found my way through the year without being intentional with the goals I set or reflecting properly on my experiences. That is why I want to shake things up a bit in 2025 and change the way I tackle my goals, vision and reflections for the year.
1-2 Main Goals = Stronger Focus
In 2024 I set myself 5 goals for the year. I also always have mini goals throughout the months, so God knows how many I actually had rattling around in my head. This is very likely the reason behind me only achieving one thing on that list. I wasn’t focused. I tried spinning too many plates at the same time instead of spinning one, focusing on getting that steady and then moving on to the next. This year I am setting 1-2 main goals to keep me tuned in with those top priorities to me.
Make the goals specific
The goals I made in 2024 were not specific enough. ‘Get fit’, ‘Have a consistent routine’, ‘Eat Healthy’ are not goals where you have much of a chance. You need to define them and give them much more clarity than that. The only one I achieved? Getting a first-class in my degree. That is specific. Having a ‘consistent workout routine’ is not.
Have a plan and write it down
It sounds so simple. But it hasn’t been easy for me to have a plan in place for my goals, mostly due to the lack of specificity I just covered above. Having a goal is a great start, but to set yourself up for the highest likelihood of success means to go a step further and create a plan. Last year I did not plan. I just wrote down my goals in a list and left it at that. This year each goal I set for myself has the following sections for me to complete:
1. What knowledge I need to acquire?
2. What skills do I need?
3. What actions do I need to take?
4. What obstacles are likely to come up?
5. What solutions do I have for them?
6. How will I know when I have achieved my goal?
7. How will I track my progress?
12-week year
I am currently listening to the 12-week year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington. I have to admit I haven’t finished it but I heard about this method of goal setting a lot last year and wanted to try it out. I am essentially squeezing my goals in to 12-week chunks to stay on track, keep motivated and dedicated to my goals. 12 weeks gives you less time to procrastinate with a more pressing deadline than a full year. I also like this method theoretically because I found that my priorities can change throughout the year and sticking to one yearly goal can feel like too much of a commitment. For some reason I couldn’t let go of the arbitrary goals I set in January and replace them mid-year. I just stopped looking at goals altogether. I am excited and curious to see if this method makes it any easier to stay productive and focused on my objectives.
So those are all of the things that I am changing for 2025, but there are a couple of things that I do still like about my goal setting and intend to carry forward into this year too.
Word/ Theme for the Year
I love a word of the year. There is something about it that feels comforting even if I am not on track with goals, I can always keep the intention of the word/ theme in my mind. It feels more gentle than an exact goal and is a great way to realign yourself quickly. For example, my word for 2024 was ‘Create’ and I did do a lot more creation than previous years, both privately and publicly. I liked using this because I got to the end of the year and was able to reflect on how much I aligned with the word, rather than whether I hit a certain number of something.
This year I am making an extra addition by also using quotes and phrases as guiding principles as well as my theme for the year. These are small sentences that align with my theme and I can remind myself of when I need an extra boost. For example, my theme for the year is all about action, so alongside the words ‘Quick Action’ as my theme, I also have the following phrases:
‘Choose your Hard’ – Codie Sanchez
‘Create don’t consume’ – unknown
‘You learn most by doing’ – Unknown
‘We are not what we want, we are what we do’ – unknown
(sorry, these are a lot of Pinterest quotes and now I can’t find them!)
These phrases align with my words, but they also add extra meaning and motive to the theme. So if I am struggling, they are a great reference point to come to.
Vision Board
I love a vision board. Sue me. They may not work, who knows, but they are so fun to make and they make really lovely desktop backgrounds. What a lovely way to remind yourself of the life you envision! I have both digital and physical mood boards and try to plaster them wherever I can for constant reminders. It’s best to choose images that you can relate to you and that you can see yourself in, so I tend to avoid faces and cut them out if I have to, and also don’t include anything that I can’t see myself doing (goodbye all the cute baths and girls nights with wine!)
An addition to my vision board for 2025 is again, words. I didn’t have any phrases or words on my 2024 vision board, and I feel like I missed out. So I have added some to spark some inspiration. And pro tip for extra mood board benefits and a clean looking computer – move your desktop files somewhere else! Then you can see your wonderful vision board in all it’s glory.
And that is everything I am doing to set better goals and hopefully see better results for 2025. I did have a great 2024 overall, but I know that I could have achieved more with better clarity and focus, and I am excited to see where these changes lead in 2025.
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