New Year’s is just around the corner, which means many people are working on their New Year’s resolutions. But how do you set good goals for the new year — and then stick to those goals?
If you are someone who wants to set goals to help yourself achieve more in 2025, but you don’t know where to start, this list is for you.
Here are seven tips for setting achievable goals and sticking to them in 2025.
7 tips for setting and achieving your New Year’s resolutions
1. Keep it simple — don’t set too many goals
“Doing too much can be overwhelming, making it tempting to give up on your resolutions altogether,” according to Forbes.
Setting just a couple goals, or even just one goal, can help you stay more focused and motivated without getting overwhelmed. Once you complete your goal you can move on and set more goals, taking it one at a time.
2. Make your goals about other people, not just yourself
Many people’s New Year’s resolutions often focus on bettering themselves in a variety of ways, but according to The New York Times, it’s better to focus on how you can help other people.
When you focus on other people and your relationships with them, it makes a significant impact in increasing your own happiness.
“If you are thinking about how to spend your precious time, energy and money in the new year, anything that is going to deepen your relationships or broaden your relationships is probably something that’s going to make you happier,” per The New York Times.
These outward focusing goals can be simple, such as setting a goal to do something for someone else each day, or reaching out to a friend regularly.
3. Focus on behaviors and habits, not outcomes
It is important to focus more on what you’re going to do, instead of what you want the end result to be. For example, instead of setting a goal to get in shape by exercising more, set a goal to change your exercise habits.
A habit-changing goal can be something like, “I am going to exercise three times a week in the morning before I go to work.”
Focusing on changing your habits instead of creating an outcome can have a greater impact in your life, according to Yahoo.
4. Put time into planning your goals
“Picking wisely and putting in extensive planning are essential parts of achieving any goal,” according to Verywell Mind.
Taking time to brainstorm how you want to make a change and what will be involved in making the change is important to staying on track.
Writing out your goal with a detailed plan will help you stick with it. Seeing what tactics and strategies you will use to tackle your goal helps it be more achievable.
A detailed plan can also help you keep track of what you want to do and how you want to do it.
5. Start with something small and simple
According to The Guardian, setting smaller goals can lead to bigger changes and success.
It can be helpful to start with what is easiest to help you stay motivated.
“The reason you want to start with what’s easiest is you want to feel that sense of achievement, of success — because that’s going to keep you motivated to do the harder things down the road,” the article said.
6. Share your goals and get other people involved
According to Forbes, when you write down and share your goal with others, it helps you feel more accountable. We don’t want to fail, but we especially don’t want other people to know we failed.
“Combine forces. Letting others participate in your goal further increases your chances of success,” according to Forbes.
Letting other people help you with your goals and setting goals together with people in your life can help you stay accountable and motivated to achieve your goals.
“We function better with community around us, motivating and reminding us why we chose that New Year’s resolution in the first place,” according to UC Davis Health.
7. Make your goals for the year into a game
According to ABC News, you can take a more creative approach to New Year’s resolutions by writing yours on a bingo card.
Write one goal in each square and mark it with an “X” when it is completed. The goal is to get as many bingos as you can through out the year.
By making it into a game, it is easier to feel more engaged with your goals and think about them more throughout the year, per ABC.