25 for 2025: Resolutions for the Year

It’s that time of year where I make a bunch of resolutions and hope that I keep to some of them. The year this was most successful was 2021, when I set out to get married and buy a condo, and managed to acheive both. This year, my life looks a little different, but nevertheless, cultivating a list of 25 things to do in 2025 gives me a sense of acheivement to look back on.

This idea, as always, is cribbed from the one and only Gretchen Rubin, whose insights provide such value to my life. If you haven’t already, my recommendation for the start of each year is to read her first book on happiness, The Happiness Project, which provides incredible insight into building a life that you are satisfied with.

So here’s a list of everything I seek to accomplish in 2025:

1. Write a blog post every week(52 blog posts for the year).
2. Read 52 books.
3. Host monthly dinner parties.
4. Dedicate an hour a day to my personal writing.
5. Limit fast food/eating out to special occassions.
6. Finally pay off the rest of the credit card debt.
7. Keep up with a weekly “junk journal.”
8. Seek opportunities for paid freelance writing.
9. Do “one fun thing” a month.
10. Put together the final, finishing touches on home decor/bathroom paint job.
11. Build Instagram/Threads audience from where they are.
12. See a show on broadway(I’m visiting NYC this year, just have to book the show!)
13. Spend more time travelling locally.
14. Build a regular gym habit.
15. Dedicate Sunday to “reset”-meal prepping, planning out the week, cleaning and making sure I have a fresh start.
16. Thrift first, new last: prioritize buying used items over new when able.
17. Start saving for a new car.
18. Use storygraph to track reading.
19. Get involved in the local community more.
20. Pick a new place to travel to in the fall(maybe in September or October?)
21. Diversify my music listening habits and try to listen to more new artists.
22. Take meaningful breaks from the “daily grind.”
23. Query my book. Yes really. For real this time.
24. Build up a shoe wardrobe so I don’t wear the same two pairs to everything.
25. Replace the backpack I’ve been carrying my laptop around in for a decade with a nice looking work appropriate bag.

I recognize that many of these are nebulous, and my number one goal was to not have a bunch of nebulous things that aren’t acheivable. But I genuinely think the nebulous nature of some of these will be motivating.

Ultimately, I want to live my life, I don’t want to just survive it. The last couple of years have left me world weary, and while 2024 has turned out better than expected, I want to enjoy my life more, because I only have the one to enjoy. I did the things I felt obligated to do in my 20’s. I got a masters degree. I bought a home. I did all of the key markers for success, and it all made me miserable. I am so much happier now, but I also know that I could be doing more to prioritize my bigger dreams. I can’t wait to tackle this. I feel invigorated to do so, and I look forward to documenting some of that here.

This begs the question, of course: What are your new years resolutions? Do you cultivate a list each year? Have you ever completed everything on the list? I think my life is finally at a place where I can reasonably and acheivably complete everything on this list. That is the hope, anyway.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful New Year!

-M