If new year’s resolutions aren’t your thing, but you still want to work on yourself and channel some good energy this 2025, we got you.
Related: How You Can Start Fresh And Navigate Your Life In The New Year
Real talk—when was the last time you actually fulfilled a new year’s resolution? If you’re like many others who find that you could never stick to your resolutions, or that you just end up disappointed by the end of the year because you didn’t fulfill them, maybe that whole practice isn’t for you. You’re in luck though, because there’s several other ways you could work towards goals or work on yourself.
Technically, any of these can be convoluted into being a new year’s resolution—but let us cook. These alternatives to new year’s resolutions are a twist on the traditional system of “set a goal and stick to it for the entire year,” and will help you still gun for growth and self-improvement, minus the typical structure of a new year’s resolution. It’s time to lock in this year! Check each practice out below and try them out yourself.
MAKE VISION BOARDS
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More of a visual learner than a verbal one? Vision boards are the way to go. If you’d rather visualize and take inspiration for how you want your year to go, collect a whole bunch of photos, magazine pages, notes, tickets, anik-anik—whatever you can find (physically or digitally)—and put them all on a vision board so you can envision and maybe even manifest a year and future that will fulfill you. It will also serve as a constant visual reminder to work towards making those photos a reality.
SET MINI-GOALS
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Instead of writing down yearly new year’s resolutions, set smaller, attainable goals with shorter timelines. Weekly or monthly. It’ll be more satisfying to tick off, and will keep you on track more consistently and give you that encouraging boost every time you complete one.
CHOOSE A MONTHLY THEME
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For every month, you can choose a theme a part of your life can revolve around. It can be as abstract or as specific as you want, but it should be something to keep in mind for the entire month. For instance, “health,” or “saving,” or “friendship,” and it’s up to you how to go about centering yourself on those purposeful themes. “The key is to set intentions rather than end goals,” this article from The Everygirl says. If a theme works out well for you, then continue to hold onto it even beyond the month you set it for.
WRITE A ‘LOOKING FORWARD TO’ LIST
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Think plans that have yet to happen and desires that you want to manifest. The moment an inkling of a plan is set in motion or an idea you want to see come to fruition sparks in your mind, whether it’s “sleepover with high school barkada” or “graduation” or “dinner with bestie,” take down what you’re looking forward to and make an ever-growing list of things that keep you excited for the days to come.
MAKE A 2025 WINS OR GRATITUDE LIST
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Alternatively, keep a running list of Ws you rack up this 2025, and/or things you find that you’re grateful for. A wins and gratitude list doesn’t have the added responsibility and pressure of living up to a certain goal or resolution, but will still give you some clarity about the good in your life.
TAKE NOTE OF LESSONS AND LEARNINGS
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Instead of taking note of what you should do, keep in mind instead lessons and learnings that you pick up over time. It’s a pretty automatic thing we do as people, but maybe writing them down, putting them in one place, will help in keeping them at the forefront of your mind. And, at the end of the year, you can look at each one and remember the circumstances and choices that allowed you to learn each lesson.
DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
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That’s right—you can choose to do absolutely nothing in the place of new year’s resolutions. We listen and we don’t judge. Seriously, though, you don’t have to itemize or take note, verbalize or visualize anything to help you get through the year. As long as you take the year day by day and stick to what you think will work for you, whether that’s an occasional mental note of something you’re grateful for or just getting through it all with no fuss and no disappointments, you can get through this year.
Do take note though, that this isn’t an excuse to be complacent and cultivate bad habits—we’re all for growth and self-improvement here! Just be prepared and take it at your own pace.
Continue Reading: Bretman Rock Has A Few Wise Words To Say About New Year’s Resolutions
