Design Your Best Year Yet: A Transformative Guide to Setting New Years Goals Your Future Self Will Thank You For

In less than two weeks, we’ll be ringing in 2025– the first quarter of the 21st century. That’s right, we’re going to be 25% into the new millennium. Are you ready to step into the new year with your best foot forward?

Let’s be real—most of us aren’t. The holiday season is a whirlwind of giving, gathering, and thinking about everyone else but ourselves. By the time January wraps up, our New Year’s resolutions often feel more like wishful thinking than achievable goals.

The year always starts with that “new year, new me” energy, but life has a sneaky way of pulling us off track. Daily responsibilities take over, unexpected events pop up, and before we know it, it’s December again. Another year gone in the blink of an eye, and we’re still not quite the upgraded version of ourselves we’d hoped to become.

This reminds me of a personal story that’s a perfect example of how relying solely on good intentions will get you exactly to where you don’t want to be.

A Lesson in Overconfidence

Early in our marriage, my husband and I took our first trip to Canada. This was before smartphones; our "high-tech" devices consisted of a pair of walkie-talkie phones. (Yes, that was a thing.)

Starving after checking into our Vancouver hotel, we couldn’t wait to experience the city’s famous culinary scene. Impatient with the receptionist’s busy line, we bolted from the hotel without asking for directions, certain we’d wander into culinary paradise.  

We were so excited and in love, lost in conversation and laughter as we wandered the streets. We were too distracted by the sights and sounds to notice how far we’d strayed, or that we hadn’t seen a single restaurant.  An hour and a half later, hunger and panic smacked us back to reality. There was no food in sight. With no GPS and no internet on our walkie-talkies, we turned back and on that hangry trek back to the hotel, we had a major marital meltdown.  

We argued about whether we were lost, whose fault it was, and why I’d worn boots with three-and-a-half-inch heels. (I’d started the day hoping to impress him with those boots but was by then seriously considering using them as a weapon).

The next morning, with a map in hand and egos in check, we asked for directions, only to learn that if we had turned right instead of left, we’d have found an entire stretch of restaurants just one block away.  Ugh. 

Later that day, we enjoyed an unforgettable feast, fully reconciled and laughing about our epic misadventure that had nearly sabotaged our entire experience. Lesson learned: good intentions (and even love itself) are not enough to get you where you want to go. You need a plan.

The Same Goes for Your Goals

This same overconfidence derails our goals every year. We start with great intentions for our health, careers, finances, and relationships, but we often fail to create a clear plan. Or worse, we overload ourselves with too many resolutions and end up feeling defeated.  

I’ve been guilty of both.  

After an especially challenging 2024, I knew I needed a different approach to make 2025 my best year yet. I dove into books, podcasts, and expert insights on intentional living and goal-setting. What I discovered surprised me, and changed my entire approach to new year goal-setting.  

I’m excited to share the process I used to plan my year and how you can apply it to yours too.

It’s a five-part process.  You can take whichever parts resonate with you and use them individually, or integrate them into your own goal-setting system.     

Throughout this guide, I’ll share reflective journal prompts to spark introspection and help you gain clarity. Set aside time for yourself to answer them. Grab a journal and your 2024 calendar for reference, and find a quiet coffee shop, library, or even a shady parking lot where you can pause, reflect and map out your best year yet. 

Let’s get started– you have a Future Self waiting to be realized!  

STEP 1: Prime Your Potential — Start with Gratitude

The first step is to reflect on what you’re grateful for from the past year. Gratitude shifts your mindset from scarcity to abundance, helping you set goals from a place of possibility and optimism. Gratitude also builds resilience, helping you reframe difficulties as opportunities for growth instead of focusing on fear.  

No matter how challenging 2024 may have been, there are beautiful gifts and lessons hidden in every experience. 

Journal Prompt:  What are you most grateful for from 2024?

Take a moment to review your calendar, scroll through your phone’s 2024 photos, and acknowledge  meaningful moments that shaped your year.  Let the feelings of gratitude sink in and open your heart to possibility.  

STEP 2: Conduct an After-Action Review (AAR)

Reviewing your past experiences helps you distill key lessons and avoid repeating the same mistakes.  Address what went well, what didn’t, and what you can improve.  

Michael Hyatt’s book, Your Best Year Ever, highlights the power of the After-Action Review (AAR):  

“What if your greatest frustrations from the previous year were actually pointing you to some of your biggest wins in the next?  Regret isn’t reminding us of what’s impossible—it’s pointing us toward what is possible.”  

Instead of seeing regrets as roadblocks, view them as signals showing you what truly matters and where you have the potential to level up.  

An AAR also highlights your strengths, not just your shortcomings. By reflecting on where you’ve made meaningful progress, you’ll gain confidence in what you’re capable of achieving in the year ahead.

Journal Prompts: 

1. What Went Right in 2024?

• What were your wins?

• Where did you make progress?

• What are you proud of?

• What brought you joy, energy and fulfillment?  

2. What Didn't Go So Well in 2024?

• Where did you struggle?

• Where are there still gaps?

• Do you have any regrets or disappointments?

• What drained your energy or joy?  

3. Reframe for Growth: Lessons Learned

• What were the major life lessons learned this year? 

• How will those lessons serve you moving forward?

• What opportunities does your regret reveal? 

• What do you need to let go of that drains you for the next year?  

• What do you need to do more of that energizes you for next year? 

STEP 3:  Future Self Planning: Defining Who You're Meant to Be

Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s Future Self Concept reveals a powerful truth: who you become is determined by how clearly you define your Future Self and how consistently you align your present actions with that vision.  In his book, Be Your Future Self Now, Hardy explains that the clearer and more detailed your Future Self vision, the more likely you are to achieve it. Research shows that the stronger your connection to your Future Self, the wiser your decisions will be today. Every action you take is either a cost or an investment in who you want to become.

A well-defined Future Self gives you purpose, motivation, and direction, preventing you from being swept away by daily distractions. Whether intentional or not, you are always becoming someone. The question is: are you becoming the person you truly want to be?

This idea hit me profoundly– true success can only be achieved by being fully aligned with your desired Future Self. Many people appear successful on the outside but are living a ‘pseudo’ version of the life they truly want, chasing external markers of success without being true to themselves. The only way to experience authentic success is by knowing, with absolute clarity, who you want to become and making intentional choices that align with that vision.

Journal Prompt: Who do you want your Future Self to be by the end of 2025? (Or in three, or five or 10 years?)

Without overthinking it, ask yourself questions such as: 

• What does my ideal life look like in the future? (Think career, relationships, health, finances.)

• What is my day and my week like? 

• What daily habits does my Future Self practice consistently?

• How does my Future Self start and end the day?

• How does my Future Self contribute to others and give back to the world?

• What beliefs or limiting thoughts does my Future Self no longer hold?

• What strengths and qualities has my Future Self developed over time?

 Be specific. Once you define who your Future Self is, commit fully to becoming that person starting now.

Journal Prompt:  If I met my Future Self one (or five, or 10) years from now, what advice would they give me? 

STEP 4: Choose Three Core Priorities for Your Future Self

 Pursuing too many goals at once leads to overwhelm and scattered effort. Dr. Hardy recommends choosing three major priorities that align with your Future Self vision. This focused approach sharpens your attention, reduces decision fatigue, and drives meaningful progress.

These three priorities should reflect the most important areas of your life that you want to optimize for your Future Self. By limiting your focus to three core areas, you’ll make better decisions, avoid distractions, and dedicate your energy to what truly matters.

For each priority, set identity-driven goals based on who you want to become, not just what you want to achieve.

For example, instead of saying, “I want to get fit,” try: “I am someone who exercises consistently.”

Break the goal into specific action steps, then create monthly and weekly milestones. Regularly track your progress to stay on course. When new opportunities or distractions arise, ask yourself: “Does this align with one of my three priorities?” If it doesn’t, let it go for now. This framework keeps you intentional, productive, and deeply connected to your Future Self.

Journal Prompt: What three areas of my life are the most crucial for me to focus on right now to ensure I reach my one-year Future Self in 2025?

Journal Prompts: For each of your three priorities, what is one identity-driven goal that reflects who you want to become?  What specific action steps do I need to take? What milestones can I track? How can I add accountability?  

STEP 5: Choose a Word of the Year 

The "Word of the Year" exercise, based on Jon Gordon’s book One Word That Will Change Your Life,  is a powerful intention-setting practice that involves choosing one meaningful word to guide your mindset, decisions, and actions throughout the year. This singular focus serves as a personal mantra, helping you stay anchored to what matters most and is easy to keep top of mind every day. Your chosen word becomes a filter through which you make decisions, take action, and remain aligned with your Future Self vision. To strengthen its impact, write your Word of the Year where you’ll see it often (on a sticky note on your mirror, as your phone wallpaper, or even framed on your desk). Seeing it regularly reinforces your commitment, keeps your priorities top of mind, and helps you stay focused when motivation dips.

Journal Prompt: What quality, habit, or value do I need to develop the most to become my Future Self this year? What one word best embodies that intention? 

Final Reflection: Flexibility on the Journey 

The difference between frustration and fulfillment is often just one intentional step. As long as you take the time to map out your journey, you’re already closer to becoming the person you’re meant to be. Of course, planning your best year isn’t about perfection, it’s about direction. Life will throw unexpected twists and epic misadventures your way. You might set out with the best intentions, full of excitement and optimism, only to find yourself wandering aimlessly and hungry for progress. The key is not to give up when you realize you’ve taken a wrong turn or when circumstances beyond your control throw you off course. With your Future Self Plan in hand, pause, adjust, and keep moving forward, trusting that every detour holds lessons for your growth and highest good.

I wish you clarity, joy, courage, and some strut-worthy high-heeled boots for the road ahead.

Sara Santoyo is on a mission to diversify the field of law, one woman of color at a time. As a first-gen attorney who passed the hardest bar exam in the nation and who overcame the barriers she faced as a WOC in law to land her dream attorney role, she developed the skills and confidence that comes from knowing that she can turn any adversity into an advantage. Sara now devotes her professional life to coaching young WOC lawyers to do the same and more.