Make Your 2025 Goals Bigger Than You

I am a staunch defender of New Years resolutions. While I appreciate that there are many downsides of New Years resolutions, such as our tendency to be hypercritical of all we’ve done wrong, as well as our tendency to go about accomplishing said resolutions like an absolute tyrant, as well as the reality that most people don’t stick to their goals - I still think New Years resolutions are a great idea. Why? Because having a vision for your life matters. Knowing what matters to you and doing your best to accomplish what matters to you is a good thing. It creates a sense of direction, purpose and also allows you to explore what brings meaning and fulfillment to your life.

I strongly believe that so often people fail at creating New Years goals and resolutions because we struggle to think big enough. More specifically, I think we compromise the success and sustainability of our resolutions when we create goals that are just about us. People have much more success when they create resolutions, goals and a vision for their lives that is bigger than just themselves. Questions I often ask clients include: Who do you want to be for your friends this year? How do you want to show up as a parent or partner? How could you be of service to your community? How can you demonstrate excellence at work? How do you want to show up in your dating life this year? How will your lifestyle be a reflection of your values?

I find exploring these questions incredibly helpful as they demand a greater vision of who you want to be in this one and only life of yours. These questions highlight what type of character you want to demonstrate, the lifestyle you want to lead. And while you will absolutely drop the ball from time to time, knowing what matters to you, as well as having a general understanding of how you want to show up, can serve as a north star when it feels like you’re losing your way.

I find answering the above questions makes goal setting a whole lot easier. For instance, if my goal is to do my best to show up as a patient mother, loving wife and attentive therapist, it’s easy for me to reverse engineer how I ought to be living. For instance, I will likely need to prioritize getting good rest, daily movement, as well as being very mindful of how I feed myself mentally, physically and emotionally. Again, there will be many days when none of the above is possible or realistic. However, knowing how I ought to fuel myself in order to live my life with the character I crave, will serve as my compass when life gets messy.

I have personally found this exercise to be so helpful, as have many of my clients - and I hope you give it a try. Wishing you all a healthy, fulfilling and joyful 2025!