I'm ditching the resolutions and vision boards in 2025

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably wondering how January has flown by so quickly, and sick of the constant chatter of New Year’s Resolutions and vision boards on social media. Don’t get me wrong—I love dreaming big, but here’s the reality: 80% of resolutions fail by February, and only 1% of people stick with them for a year.

I've spent the last couple of weeks reflecting on the best way to set intentions and goals for the year so that I actually stick. And the research I've done validates my thinking on vision boards and resolutions - instead of inspiring us to great things they actually often set us up for failure for three main reasons. They:

• Focus on outcomes, not actions: They highlight what you want but don’t address how to get there.
• Lack clarity or realism: Goals like “be healthier” or “make more money” aren’t specific or achievable without a plan.
• Overwhelm or overcommit: Trying to take on too much leads to burnout and giving up.

So this year, I’m taking a different approach. I’m ditched resolutions entirely and stitched together my own framework that I've found is way more practical, motivating, and tied to meaningful progress: Goals > Impact > Growth.

Why Goals > Impact > Growth is different:

Instead of focusing on vague outcomes, I've tried to create a process that:

1. Sets structured, actionable goals that align with your values.
2. Reflects on the impact of those goals, to yourself and others.
3. Prioritizes progress over perfection, embracing learning and growth along the way.

So what steps did I incorporate into my goal-setting for the year? While I've focused on three parts to the process, I've broken it down into 7 distinct steps or areas of reflection:

1. Define a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal)

Let’s dream big! Your BHAG is your North Star—a long-term vision that excites and inspires you. Maybe it’s launching a purpose-driven business, creating an industry-changing product, or achieving financial independence. The key is that it should feel bold, slightly scary, and deeply and personally motivating.

2. Break It Down: Intentions for 2025

Once you have your BHAG, break it into smaller, manageable milestones for this year. Focus on 3-5 meaningful intentions that will drive progress. Anymore and you'll overwhelm yourself, or not have enough capacity to achieve anything fully. Once you've cracked your three, you can always come up with more for the end of the year. When narrowing down your intentions, they should be the ones that:

• Align with your BHAG.
• Have the greatest impact with the least effort.

3. Get SMART

Turn your intentions into SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This step makes your goals actionable and trackable. For example:

• Vague: Build a website.
• SMART: Create a 3-page website (home, about, services) by March 30th.

But remember, you ACTUALLY have to measure them consistently throughout the year. Not just putting the results down in a spreadsheet, but reflecting on WHY your numbers are what they are - what you did well, differently or not so well. It's not the data that's important - it's the insight and using that to refine your approach to achieving them in the next period.

4. Embrace Messy Action

Brainstorm small, imperfect steps you can take immediately. Don’t overthink it—progress beats perfection every time. Instinctively writing down 10 small steps you can take without overthinking it will give you a list of instinctive small steps that won't overwhelm. Examples:

• Send an email to a potential collaborator.
• Post on social media, even if it’s not perfectly curated.
• Attend a networking event, even if you feel unprepared.

5. Reflect on Impact

Take a moment to think about why your goals matter—not just to you, but to others, those close to you (friends, family, colleagues, clients) and beyond (your company, your community, your industry). Reflecting on impact can multiply your motivation and help you stay on track. Ask yourself:

• How will achieving this goal benefit me personally?
• What positive ripple effects will it have on my family, clients, or community?
• What legacy do I want to build through this goal?

6. Cultivate a Growth Mindset

Growth is not linear, and that’s okay. We have to experiment, innovate and fail to learn and progress. Embracing uncertainty and imperfection is key to growth. Here are three areas that I reflected on from 2024, that I will build on in 2025

• Celebrating progress over perfection: Identifying the small wins and the progress I made against last year's goals, even if I didn't achieve them fully.
• Reframing challenges as opportunities: Diving into my "failures", looking for root causes i can work on / fix, asking myself what I learnt and can do better at next time
• Reflecting regularly: Recognising that I didn't spend enough time reflecting last year, and making my first messy action to block time each week / month to reflect on progress against goals.

7. Build Boundaries, Support, and Accountability

One of my key learnings from last year, is that I didn't do a great job of creating boundaries around my time, and that I didn't have the "balance" I wanted. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my work, but I too easily sacrificed me-time and sleep to work on deliverables or even non-essential work in my business. I also didn't ask enough for help - even when it was freely offered. My notes to self here were:

• Set boundaries: Protect your time and energy by saying no to distractions.
• Seek support: Leverage your strengths and find help for your blind spots.
• Stay accountable: Check in with yourself or enlist an accountability buddy to keep you on track.

Slow Down to Speed Up

Instead of beating myself up that I hadn't got a list of resolutions and a perfect vision board ready to go at the strike of New Year, I've congratulated myself on taking time to reflect, plan, and celebrate progress made last year. I've learned a lot about what I did well, and what I need to work on. And in taking that time, I now feel better set up to achieve my goals, support my clients in achieving theirs, and know what I need to do to support myself better in 2025.

If you’re feeling behind or overwhelmed, don’t worry—it’s still not too late to set meaningful goals. Schedule time in the next couple of weeks, once the start of the year craziness has died down to reflect, course-correct, and make 2025 the year of meaningful progress.

If you’re ready to dive in, check out my Goals-Impact-Growth Workbook (link in comments) or join one of my upcoming workshops. Make this your year of progress and impact, and you're more likely to see me on that white sand beach from last year's vision board!

What do you think about my approach? What's worked for you in setting you up for success in 2025?