According to scientific research, people who make specific plans for when and where they will achieve their goals are more likely to follow through. (Photo by Sarah Burchard)

By Sarah Burchard | Staff Writer

Did you know that you can achieve your goals by simply writing down when, where and how you are planning to implement them? According to 94 different studies on goal implementation, creating intentions that define how you will achieve your goals is what leads to goal success. Are you ready to slay 2025? Then break out your notebook and a pen and let’s go. 

Assess

First, define your goals for 2025. On a sheet of paper, answer the following questions:

  1. What is my deepest desire?
  2. Why is this important to me?

The answers will guide you in the rest of this exercise. They are your north star, the reason for all of the plans you will make this year, your theme of 2025.

Now, answer the following questions for each category in your life listed below. For example, the answer to “What’s going well?” might be: In my personal life I am doing a great job at getting my workouts in every week. Professionally, I got a new job in the field I am interested in. Socially, I see my friends on the weekends and have dinner with my family once a week.  

  • Personal
  • Professional
  • Social/family 
  1. What’s going well?
  2. What’s not going well?
  3. What do I want more of?
  4. What do I want less of? 

With those answers in mind, take time to ponder the next two questions and write for as long as you want to answer them, not leaving any detail out. 

  1. What is my ideal lifestyle? (This includes where you live, what you spend your time doing, who you spend time with, etc.)
  2. What kind of person do I want to be? (For example, I want to be the kind of person who gets up at 5 a.m. every morning to workout, I want to be the “go-to” guy at work, I want to be a straight-A student, etc.)

Plan

Now that there’s a clear vision for what you want, put a plan in place for achievement. Set aside ample time for this step, so you can be thorough. I’m going to give you a template that you can edit to fit your needs. Use this to stay on track with your annual goals. The key is to create actionable tasks that move you closer to your goal. It’s not enough to say you are going to spend more time studying. Instead, select an amount of time you will spend studying and schedule it out in your calendar. (For example, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday study 1-4 p.m.). Then, each week, delete the placeholder “study” with a specific homework assignment, book you need to read, etc. 

Copy and paste the following template onto a Word or Google document and save it on your desktop, or someplace you will remember to revisit it monthly. Alternatively, you could copy it down by hand in a journal or physical planner. 

Template Instructions:

  1. Write down your goal(s) for each category of your life at the top. 
  2. Underneath each quarter, write down the subset of smaller goals you will accomplish to move you closer to your larger annual goal. Break these goals down by month and think of them more as tasks than abstract goals. Be specific. 
  3. Enter your monthly goals into your calendar. 
  4. Choose a day of the week (mine is Saturday) to sit down and plan out the week ahead, using your monthly goals as your guide. 
  5. Every day, at the end of the day, look at your calendar for the next day. I like to copy it down on a notepad, like a to-do list with time stamps. Then, as you go about your day, you can check off tasks as you complete them. 

2025 Goal Planner

  • Personal goal(s): 
  • Professional goal(s):
  • Social/Family goal(s):

Q1 

  • Jan:
  • Feb:
  • March:

Q2 

  • April:
  • May:
  • June:

Q3 

  • July:
  • Aug:
  • Sept:

Q4 

  • Oct:
  • Nov:
  • Dec:

 

Here’s mine, to give you an example of what this looks like filled out. You’ll notice most of the tasks repeat each month to ensure my annual goal success, but some of my goals are “one offs,” so they are included only in the month they will occur. 

Sarah’s 2025 Goal Planner 

  • Personal goal(s): Eat at least 100g clean protein per day, increase my strength, get straight As in school (take 6 credits in spring and fall, 3 credits during summer), save $1,200 for 2026 travel.
  • Professional goal(s): Start writing for at least one new publication, publish a personal essay in a national travel magazine. 
  • Social/Family goal(s): Visit Aaron’s restaurant in CA, visit my brother in CA, Make plans with best friend once a month. 

Q1 

  • Jan:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Block off 20 hrs/week for school
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 
  • Feb:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Block off 20 hrs/week for school
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 
  • March:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Block off 20 hrs/week for school
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 

Q2 

  • April:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Block off 20 hrs/week for school
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 
  • May:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Block off 20 hrs/week for school
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Harri’s cousin’s wedding in L.A.
    • Visit Aaron’s restaurant and my brother in San Diego
    • Make plans with Sara H. 
  • June:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Block off 10 hrs/week for school
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 

Q3 

  • July:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Block off 10 hrs/week for school
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 
  • Aug:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Block off 20 hrs/week for school
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 
  • Sept:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Block off 20 hrs/week for school
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 

Q4 

  • Oct:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 
  • Nov:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 
  • Dec:
    • Purchase meat/fish from Farm Link or Farmers Market (weekly)
    • Strength training class 2xs/week
    • Deposit $100 into savings account
    • Pitch to one new publication
    • Make plans with Sara H. 

Remember, writing down when, where and how you will achieve your goals will drastically increase your odds of success. Do the exercise above before the new year, fill out the template, put the tasks in your calendar and check in with yourself weekly and daily. You got this!