How to Make 2025 Your Year

People always say, “This year is going to be my year!” But what if 2025 could truly be the year you make that statement true? I’m someone who believes that if you set yourself up for it, you can accomplish many of your goals in the year. I’ll tell you 5 ways I’m doing that for 2025. Buckle up, it's going to be a good one!
Photo credit: Pixabay, inspired by my Aunty Jill
1. Set Clear Intentions
If you have an understanding of the laws of attraction, you may have heard of setting “intentions.” Intentions are clear goals that are detailed, allowing you to envision yourself achieving them. This visualization begins the process of manifesting what you want to see for yourself in the future. Manifestation is the idea that when you think of something that you want to see in your life, the universe uses its properties to work with you so you can accomplish it. Think of it as the universe being your personal genie, minus the three-wish limit and the blue skin.
To set an intention, think of something you want to happen for yourself. Whether it’s trying something new, starting a side hustle, or using a new hobby to start a side hustle, it’s a goal. One of the most powerful ways to set an intention is to write it out. But don’t write it in such a way that it’s like a wish. Write down what you want as if you already have it. For example, instead of saying, “I really want to start my own business,” try writing, “I’m so grateful that I took a chance starting my own streetwear clothing brand and it’s been so successful.” The second one is specific and you can almost see the pieces laid out in front of you. Plus, it sounds way cooler.
2. Create a Vision Board
Visualization, as stated above, is an incredibly powerful tool to create the life of your dreams. One of the most popular ways to make visualization easier is by creating a vision board. If you’ve heard of Pinterest, you’ve most likely heard of, or subconsciously created your own vision board. This specific tool for manifesting is based on utilizing pictures and phrases or quotes that paint your future the way you want to see it. Have you been wanting a new car? Put it on your vision board. Remember how I told you about setting intentions? This comes in handy because vision boards are all about taking those intentions and adding pictures to them. This is one of my favorite ways of seeing how my dreams can become real. Give it a try. And if nothing else, it’s a great excuse to cut up magazines and pretend you’re in kindergarten again.
3. Create a Life Binder/Journal
This is something new I’m doing this year. Life binders are like vision boards, but more in-depth. You can break down every aspect of your life and create sections to manifest and keep track of the progress you’ve made. It also allows you to add to your vision of your life because sometimes your dreams are more dynamic than you’d expect. I’m going to be doing an entire blog post about how I’m creating mine, so stay tuned! Spoiler alert: it involves a lot of stickers and colored pens. Because who said adulting can’t be fun?
4. Create a Prayer Board/Gratitude Board
I believe in the power of prayer, but I have a complete understanding of people who don’t include this in their lives. For me, I don’t think I’m strong enough as a human 100% of the time to keep pushing to achieve all my dreams. The number of times I almost gave up on completing my book is evidence of this. Spiritually, I had many things keeping me going somehow. I’ve never created a prayer board, and I actually only recently discovered them. Prayer is something that has to be practiced, so knowing who and what I’m praying for makes for a clearer message. And being able to keep track of my answered prayers is great for me. To pivot off of this as a substitute, I’m adding a gratitude section to my board, and if spirituality isn’t something you’re interested in, you could make an entire board about that. People who practice intentional gratitude are happier, which is proven in studies. Grab some photos, quotes, and envelopes and focus on what you are grateful for. I’m grateful you’re reading this post right now!
5. Take Action
I’m doing all of these things for this year but to be blunt, it’s a waste of time if I don’t put any work in. Pictures, dreams, and cardboard don’t make dreams come true; they’re tools so that you don’t forget what you’re working towards. For every dream you have, you need to figure out what steps you need to implement to get there. Make sure these are realistic! You don’t want to overwhelm yourself to the point where you give up, or worse, don’t try. Baby steps really are the best way. If you’re wanting to get fit, don’t tell yourself you’re going to go from a relaxed diet with moderate exercise to only eating clean and working out for 2 hours, 7 days a week. It’s not realistic, and not sustainable. Instead, exercise twice a week, and have one serving of food for each meal, or a smaller portion for meals. You can really apply this to everything. Consistency is key to achieving many of your dreams, but how you stay consistent matters. You don’t want progress at the expense of your mental health because at some point you will burn out.
Scheduling is the best tool for consistency because you don’t have to think on the spot. Schedule your social media posts ahead of time, do your homework as soon as you get it, then schedule a day to go over it all before you submit it. It may not make things easier, but it will streamline your efforts. You still need time for fun, relationships, and other goals. In fact, having more fun should be one of your goals. Remember this quote by John C. Maxwell: “Dreams don’t work unless you do.” It keeps me motivated to keep pushing, knowing that if I put in the work, my goals and dreams do come to life.
So there you have it: My 5 tips to making this new year your best one yet. Set your intentions, make your vision board, and life binder, create a prayer board, or gratitude board, and take action towards those goals. You’ve got this. If you’ve read this far, I’d like to offer you a little secret of mine to see my progress at the end of the year: write yourself a letter that you can’t read until the end of the year. It’ll amaze you how much you develop and change within the span of 12 short months. Here’s to manifesting our best life because life has more in store for you.