New Year, New Me - setting goals and taking actions

Dec 31

If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes

— Andrew Carnegie

There are some researches that show that by the mid of March all the resolutions that you set up as the New Year rolls in fail. Though the movies teach us to have desires and create new beginnings on that magic night, they don’t teach us how to turn those resolutions into goals and how to not fall into the same cycle of lacking joy for them by the end of February.

Here is a coaching approach of goals and actionable steps so that those resolutions and aspirations can turn into achievements and achieved goals. I will invite to take moments to reflect at each step, maybe with a notebook by your side, if you feel like journal about it please do so.

Here are 8 steps to turn 2025 into a great year for you.

1. The Power of Intention
With what intention - with what energy are you thinking about these resolutions?
Just scan your body and see what shows up in your limbs, your belly, what thoughts pop into your mind when you think about the energy you want to bring into the new year. If only one word would define your intention for the next 365 days what would that word be?
Mel Robbins has a great podcast episode with a neurosurgeon about the power of manifestation / visualisation and how your brain reacts to that. Dr. Jim Doty, a Stanford neurosurgeon, neuroscientist, and expert on manifestation and visualization talks about the science behind it. He defines manifestation, talks about the Default Mode Network - the space where you create the narrative of who you are and what you want. You can listen to the whole episode here, I mention it because it inspired me to write this article. Here is a small exercise that he shared during the conversation. This exercise is meant to train your brain to become your supporter during 2025 and a cheerleader for your goals:

Tool:
Take a pencil and write down your intention - this means you are doing something physically, tactile
Read the intention first silently than out loud - tap into your auditory and visual senses.
Visualize the intention - we know already from the tons of research that is out there - the brain does not make the difference between the reality and visualisation so that will take your brain to the next level. Creating new pathways on how having a goals achieved would look like.
Repeat the exercise as often as possible, this will embed the intention in your subconscious activating different cognitive brain networks to serve in the following year.

2. The Power of Purpose
Before jumping into goal-setting - what is truly important to you?

Let go of the ”shoulds” and ”woulds” and connect with your long-term vision and core values, with ”wants” and ”longings”.

Tool:
Write down top 5 values that run you. How do they show up in your life today? How do you want to feel when you reach that long-term vision and what is needed from you to get there?

3. Set SMART Goals
From that top 5 values create the goals for the next year. You’re more likely to stay motivated and committed if you align the values with the goals. While you write down each goal make them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). After you write all down - take a look into your heart of your goals and see what goal excites you? How will achieving the goal will improve your life or the lives of others that are important to you?

Write them down with that commitment. So instead writing the goal as ”I want to lose weight” try and reframe it with actions and time bound, from the heart: “I want to feel energized and confident in my body by exercising three times a week and cooking healthy meals at home.” This reframing makes the goal more tangible and meaningful.

4. Break It Down
Big goals can overwhelm anyone. Break them down into small, actionable steps using the Kaizen approach - and see how magic happens.
Tools:

Reverse engineering is one tool that you can use - start with the end in mind. This is also a great tool to use in public speaking and it works as well when we talk about making your brain an ally in serving your goals. So as you visualise yourself 30 kilos lighter what needs to happen each month, week, and day to get there?
Try the rule of 3 - focus on 3 priorities at a time. For example if your goal is to lose 30 kilos, your top three actions might be going 4 times/week at the gym, walking 10.000 steps per day and taking the stairs once per week for the first month and see what needs to adjust in order to reach your goal.

5. Accountability - embrace it!
Accountability is a game - changer.
Sharing your goals with your supportive friend, coach or maybe your network can keep you on track. As tools you can use a habit tracker or weekly check-ins with yourself as a ritual.

Tool:
Try a weekly review - each sunday, while you drink tea or coffee, spend 15 minutes reflecting on the past week. What went well? What could be improved? What’s the focus for the upcoming week? (same small steps approach).

6. Mindset shift: progress over perfection
Let’s be real to ourselves - success isn’t about being perfect or making everything perfect - success is about showing up daily and put in the work. Consistency over perfection. Reframe setbacks into learning , turn them into a stepping stone in your growth journey.

7. Practical Tools for Action
Here are some tried-and-true tools to help you with the process:

The Eisenhower Matrix: Prioritize tasks by urgency and importance.
Time Blocking: This is my favorite for 2024 by far! Schedule specific time slots for focused work on your goals.
Vision Board: Create a visual representation of your goals to keep inspiration front and center.

8. Celebrate and reflect

As you make process, please remember to celebrate! Might be a happy dance, a nice cookie, anyway that you can acknowledge your achievements big or small. Take time to reflect and adjust as needed. Growth, goals and life are dynamic and so are you!