Setting Goals in 2025: what worked last year and future improvements for success

It took a bit to sit down and write this blog post, not because I don't have anything valuable to say, but because I am still reflecting, experimenting and tweaking strategies to achieve my goals.

Writing a list of personal goals by hand on a notepad embodies the spirit of planning and self-improvement.

Last year, in a blog post on New Year's resolutions, I went through the framework I am using to set my goals at the beginning of each year in different categories: professional, financial, relationships, experiences and so on. The main idea is to have as many goals written down as possible and work towards achieving them. As a result I had more than 90 goals for my 2024 and I probably fully achieved between 10 and 15% of them (which is much better than 0). However, on more than half of them I have achieved variable results between 20% and 90%, which brought me closer to where I want to be in the next 5 years.

This post is not about me bragging how virtuous I am or how productive my year has been. Also because it wasn't nearly as productive as I would have wanted it to be and I slipped off track quite a few times. Consistency is something I am still working on and I believe I will keep working on it for many years to come. This is a post meant to hopefully inspire you and give you some ideas and strategies on how you can achieve your own goals and set yourself up for success in 2025.

So let's start with what worked last year:

• Firstly, I thought about where I want to be in 5 years' time and worked backwards. I deconstructed that life into yearly goals which will get me there. I then further deconstructed the year into monthly, weekly and daily goals.

• I wrote the yearly goals in a notebook while the monthly and weekly goals on two sheets of paper which I've put on a board next to the fridge (so I can see them every day). The daily goals on the first page of my weekly planner which I use every day. All of this to increase the visibility of my goals.

• Everything I could automate, I did that at the start of the year. That way my will power and motivation wouldn't get in the way of achieving my financial goals, for example. Nearly all the bank apps allow you to automate savings or certain payments, so I took advantage of that.

• I managed to travel back to Moldova and see my parents and my brother twice, thanks to deliberate and anticipated planning of the trips. There can always be something that pops up at the last moment, like a concert, but the 2 weeks per year I spend with my loved ones are reserved only for that. Mind you, in the period between 2019 and 2023 I haven't seen them once, so I guess that became a priority now.

• I travelled to old and new places and met new people and those I have only talked to online. On one such trip I recorded a podcast episode live and I would like to do those more often. The travels have been possible thanks to a mix of automating savings for travelling and to very cheap flights found through Skyscanner.

What kind of worked, but not all the way through:

• Everything I have no control over: number of followers on my social media channels, amount of listeners on streaming platforms, etc.

• Releasing music, videos, posting content. Again, the keyword is Consistency. Sometimes I just felt like recording a piece and did that. The problem was "feeling like it" is not a good plan for achieving such goals.

• Number of concerts booked. Waiting for the right moment to call, send an email, get in touch and so on. Truth is, there's almost never a right moment. So why wait?

• Health and workouts. Again - Consistency. It's becoming a recurring theme by now.

• Amount of practicing. Low energy. Balance between performing and teaching. There's space for improvement.

Improvements for 2025:

• First of all, I have scheduled "Goals Review" days on the last Sunday of each month. Instead of waking up in December and seeing that most of my goals are either incomplete or not even started, this will allow me to keep on track and adjust the trajectory accordingly on a monthly basis.

• I am committing to planning my week ahead on the Sunday before the start of that week.

• I am also committing to looking at my daily, weekly and monthly goals each day.

• I chose 8 among my "Daily Goals" (written on the first page of my planner) which, if completed, will allow me to win the day. Something like: drink 2 liters of water, read 20 pages, 1 hour of silence, smile, etc. I chose them thinking that if I were to have a really bad day and only 10% energy to deal with my goals, I want to go to bed knowing that I achieved something that day, even if it is something small.

• I now have a notebook next to the fridge for keeping score of my weekly and monthly goals. What you can measure you can improve.

• Goals like read 24 books, go to 12 concerts, release 24 podcast episodes, write 12 blog posts and so on are now being deconstructed and planned into the weekly and monthly schedule.

In the end, I think James Clear said it best: "You don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems". And I am interested in tweaking and optimizing the systems in order to be able not to rely on motivation. Motivation comes and goes, but the systems and discipline will take you by the hand and make you go through whatever it is you need to be doing.

Let me know in the comments what are some improvements you are considering for setting your 2025 goals!