How to Set Goals for 2025: 6 Steps for Success

So, you’re ready to start setting goals for 2025. How exciting! Maybe you’ve made up your mind to finally pay off your student loans by the time next Christmas rolls around. Maybe you’re ready to lose those last ten pounds. Or maybe you’ve decided to spend the new year working on your faith and getting closer to God.

But if you’re like most people, you’ve set goals in the past that just didn’t work out. After all, research shows that the average New Year’s resolution barely even lasts into the spring.¹ So you’re probably asking an important question: How do I set goals for 2025 that I’ll actually be able to accomplish?

Well, I’ve got some good news: Setting high-quality goals—and crushing them—is more than possible. In fact, it’s well within your grasp. You just need to keep a few important things in mind at the beginning of the process. We’ll go over the most important things to make sure you’re set up for success.

Let’s dive in!

How to Set Goals for 2025: 6 Steps for Success

1. Be specific.

What do you want to achieve? Get down to the nitty-gritty and be super specific when you answer that question about goals for the year. Goals like “spend less on takeout” or “exercise more” are too vague, and they won’t give you the clarity you need to follow through. Instead, try something more specific like, “I’ll only spend $30 a week on takeout,” or “Each workday, I’ll spend 10 minutes of my lunch break walking outside.” The more detailed, the better. Also, look out for any roadblocks that could keep you from reaching your goal and make a plan to knock them out of the way. If you know that a walk at lunch could put a damper on your freshness, pack an extra shirt. Or keep frozen pizza in the freezer for the nights you crave delivery.

Questions to ask yourself: What am I trying to accomplish here? Why do I want to make this goal happen?

2. Make 2025 goals measurable.

This one goes hand in hand with making your goals specific. If a goal isn’t measurable, then you have no way of knowing when you’ve accomplished it—or when you’re way off track. A goal like “read more” has no target attached to it, but “read four nonfiction books in 2025” has a clear finish line.

You can also measure your New Year’s goals by breaking them into bite-size chunks. Give yourself daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly milestones to hit. For instance, four books a year means committing to read one book per quarter. Now you can break this bigger goal into weekly or monthly page counts so you can measure and keep track of your milestones.

Questions to ask yourself: How long will it take to reach my goal? How do I know when I’ve reached my goal?

3. Give your goals a time limit.

It’s important to set a time limit because you need a finish line. Take that goal of yours, make a plan, and break it down into daily, weekly or monthly action steps. Then, give yourself a deadline.

For example, you might say, “I want to be debt-free by December 31, 2025.” To pay off your debt by your deadline, figure out things like how much you’ll need to pay each month toward your debts—and how many extra hours you’ll need to work to make enough money for those payments. Now you’ve got an action plan to hit that goal by your target date.

Questions to ask yourself: Do I have a deadline for reaching my goal? When will I hit this goal?

4. Make sure they’re your goals.

Let’s be honest—trying to go after someone else’s goals for your life never works out. Sure, your mom might want you to take night classes and switch careers. But it won’t happen unless you want it to. Why? Because working hard to win isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s tough. And you won’t have the drive to stick with it if you’re working toward a goal you’re not even passionate about.

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Just because your spouse wants to get out of debt doesn’t mean you will. You have to want it too. The goals you set have to be your goals. When push comes to shove, you’re the one who has to fight to make them a reality.

Questions to ask yourself: Is this my goal? Or is it someone else’s goal for me?

5. Put your yearly goals in writing.

Something special happens when you write down specific goals. There’s a reason God said, “Write the vision, and make it plain,” in Habakkuk 2:2 (KJV). So get those goals down on paper, along with all the steps it’ll take for you to make them happen.

Our Goal Tracker Worksheet is a handy tool for getting your goals in writing. Seeing your goals in black and white will help you hold yourself accountable and track your progress along the way. 

Questions to ask yourself: Do I know the steps to reach my goal? Have I laid out a blueprint for how to get there?

6. Be realistic about how much you can accomplish.

Okay, if you’re reading this article, I know you’re determined to make an important change in your life, and I love that. But as you go through this goal-setting process, I also want you to be realistic. If you end up missing a workout because your kid is home sick from school, or if you accidentally go over on your grocery budget even though cutting down on grocery bills is your goal, listen—it’s okay.

An all-or-nothing approach isn’t going to take you far. In fact, that’s why so many people give up on their goals. They think that if they can’t be perfect, it’s not worth trying. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Be flexible like a rubber band. When plans get shaken up, stretch to make accommodations instead of snapping completely.

Questions to ask yourself: What can I do to get back on track? Can I take a smaller step toward my goal than I originally planned?

7 Areas of Life to Set Goals

Need a good place to start for goal setting? To create a good balance for your life, you should set goals in these seven meaningful areas:

• Spiritual: Finish a new devotional, start journaling every morning, or begin attending church every week.

• Fitness: Hit the gym after work three times a week, commit to only taking the stairs, or begin a new diet plan.

• Educational: Read one nonfiction book per month, go back to school, or replace scrolling on social media with listening to a leadership podcast.

• Family: Plan monthly one-on-one outings with your kids, keep a standing date night with your spouse, or make it a point to call your mom and dad on Sunday nights.

• Career: Earn a promotion or raise, learn something new about your line of work, or discover what you’re passionate about.

• Social: Find (and use!) new ways to connect with others, or commit to saying yes whenever someone invites you out to lunch.

• Financial: Increase the monthly amount you’re saving for retirement, get out of debt, or start using a monthly budget.

When it comes to that last one on the list—your money goals—you might not even know where to start. You can try the free EveryDollar budgeting app to get organized and keep you accountable as you start working toward your money goals.

And hey, don’t beat yourself up if you get off track with your goals for the year. Life happens. We all know 2024 had its speed bumps and roadblocks—just like any year. And guess what? 2025 probably will too. That’s real life. Just remember to keep your chin up. As long as you stay focused on the end goal and keep taking small steps toward getting there, you’ll be on your way to big life-change.

Now go take 2025 by storm!