2025 Goals, Becoming Board, & Word of the Year

I’m a little behind on sharing my 2025 goals. I ended 2024 and started 2025 with some sort of viral plague that took me down. It wasn’t COVID, the flu, or strep throat, but I can confirm that I do not recommend it. I’m almost back to full speed now and decided my new year truly started on January 6th because not only was I sick, but that nonsense of New Year’s Day falling in the middle of a week like it did this year is a no-go in my book. 

My 2025 goals are ambitious. In my 2024 goals recap post, I alluded to feeling like there has been a shift in me that feels more actionable as we head into this new year. There’s an urgency, like the slow burn deep within me has suddenly been fueled and is burning bright, propelling me forward. I don’t quite know where this path is leading me, but action brings clarity, so I suppose it’s time for action. 

I’m keeping some of my goals between me and my journal (I’ll share them if and when I achieve them this year!), but here are the 2025 goals I’m going to publicly claim. 

Read 50 Books 

I set a goal to read 35 books in 2024 and I hit it exactly. I decided to up the ante in 2025 and aim to read 50 books. Reading makes me a better writer and gives me an idea as to what is popular in the market. It’s also something I genuinely enjoy, and it ties to two more of my goals listed below. 

Publish 4 Books 

This was a goal I had last year as well. I published two instead of four, although one was technically a novella. I didn’t have a plan or truly know what went into self-publishing going into 2024. I still don’t know, to be honest, but I do have a better idea, and I have an actual publishing schedule, too. Let’s just say you’ll want to follow me on Instagram to be the first to know about upcoming releases. I’m launching a series this year that I am VERY excited about… 👀

Grow My Audience 

You may be giving me side-eyes on this one, and that’s okay. I admit it. I want to grow my social media following. I also want to grow my email list and my readership. I started using TikTok just in time for it to possibly (likely?) go away, and surprisingly, I’m enjoying posting and creating content. I think it harkens back to that whole fire burning inside of me thing I mentioned in the introduction, as I have historically not enjoyed it. I’m especially loving connecting with people, so I’m going to lean into it and grow my audience. 

Do At Least One Author Event 

Can I make a confession? I really want to do an author event or conference in 2025. I’m learning conferences book a year-plus out, so I may have missed the ball for this year, but I’m going to force myself out of my comfort zone and at the very least, hold a signing or launch party. I’m convinced no one will come, but you have to start somewhere, right? 

Set and Keep Boundaries 

This is a huge 2025 goal for me, perhaps my most important one. I was really struggling with work-life balance at the end of 2024. I was saying a lot of yeses to things that should have been nos. I was priortizing the wrong things. I didn’t seem to have time to do the things I love, like exercise, write, and read. I took the last two-and-a-half weeks of the year off and used that time to first recover and then reflect. I’m going into 2025 with some strict boundaries and clear priorities. 

Prioritize Self 

In line with the above boundaries goal, another big 2025 goal for me is prioritizing self. I lost a lot of rhythms and habits I’d built towards the end of the year and felt worse for it. I’m at my best when I’m getting regular exercise, dressing in outfits that make me feel cute, and doing little things like getting my nails done or taking a walk in nature. Being sick was a blessing in disguise with this as it let me almost “reset” with all the hours of sleep and lounging I logged while I was down. Here’s to taking care of my most important asset – myself – in 2025! 

Becoming Board 

We all know about vision boards, but have you heard of a Becoming Board? I have followed Karin Nordin on social media for a while now. She’s a PhD in behavior change and posts some really great content. She noted at the end of a recent year that her vision board was “just” photos of things she wanted. She hadn’t taken real action towards them. So she created the concept of a Becoming Board in which she created a board of photos that reflected the person she wanted to come. The twist is that she then replicates those photos in her real life as she “becomes” that version of herself. For example, she posted a board photo of working at a coffee shop alongside with “real” life photo of her doing just that in her Instagram stories to show she’s becoming someone who works in different settings and not just from her home desk or couch. Learn more about her Becoming Board concept here.

Something I was struggling with at the end of 2024 was frustration with myself for not making progress in certain areas of my life. I also didn’t like how I felt. I realized while doing some planning for 2025 that to reach the goals on my vision board, I needed to become the next version of myself. So I created my own Becoming Board for 2025. I’ve set it as my desktop on both my personal laptop and my work computer, as my phone’s lock screen, and I will be printing a few copies as well. Here is mine: 

This Sarah takes the time to put together outfits that make her feel good. She knows how to do her hair and makeup, gets her nails done, and prioritizes time with friends, writing, and reading. She drinks 100oz of water and chooses whole foods most of the time and exercises most days. She wakes up early to workout and have quiet time with her Bible and journal and often works or reads in coffee shops. She is actively working on her biggest, wildest dreams. 

I can already confirm that having this Becoming Board where I can see it has directly impacted my behavior. Just yesterday, I found myself listing reasons not to follow through on my plan to ride my Peloton after work. I woke up so early to teach a Pure Barre class, I put in a long day at the office, I braved the grocery store pre-snowstorm and it took so long… But then I got a glimpse of my Becoming Board, specifically the picture of the Apple Watch and Peloton, and remembered why I made that goal for myself. I changed my clothes, clipped in, and did a twenty minute ride which, while not the forty-five minutes I’d planned to do, was twenty minutes better than no minutes. I highly recommend creating a Becoming Board! 

Word of the Year 

I have chosen a word or phrase of the year for several years now. Some years, it comes easily. Other years, it’s taken a while to come to the right one. This year was an easy year. My friend sent me a ‘Word of the Year’ quiz with the request that I take it and give my thoughts. It didn’t take long for me to realize the questions were very leading and limiting (her point), which is why I’m not going to link to it. However, the word it generated as my result was perfect for me. I told my friend and she said “yeah, that’s it. That’s your word.” 

My Word of the Year for 2025 is… 

• Create art. 
• Create rhythms. 
• Create space. 
• Create boundaries. 
• Create a life that aligns with my desires and that reflects my best self. 

Create, and then cultivate that creativity. The word makes my heart sing. 

There you have it, My 2025 goals, Becoming Board, and Word of the Year. I’m excited about the potential ahead!

What is one of your 2025 goals? Or perhaps your Word of the Year?