Our team has created a bit of visual magic for all of our clients and colleagues to help make visible + attainable your New Year’s resolutions in 2025.
Happy New Year!
😃 Yeah! with a new year comes a fresh slate and a fresh start…. and….
😝 Ugh! — 2025 New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions usually just create pressure, unrealistic expectations, disappointment, and a feeling of failure (gee, thanks – I really needed more of those in my life 😂). Typical News Year’s resolutions actually set you up to fail – due to a lack of structure, planning, support and misaligned motivation.
As a team of coaches, facilitators, and creatives who LOVE getting stuff done, we asked ourselves 🤔 how we could support our clients, colleagues and collaborators to feel empowered to stay focused on creating what matters most to them this year – both personally and professionally.
… and we landed on the tried + true process of a visual template!
You probably already know that keeping a GOAL is easier when it’s visible, broken down into baby steps, and woven into the rhythm of your life through positive habits. And returning regularly to reflect and realign keeps the momentum going (or gets you back on track if needed).
But, it’s one thing to understand the goal-keeping process intellectually and quite another to actually create space + structure for that kind of self-leadership + individual project management (and in our shared experience, most people don’t).
So, we’ve put all these success factors (+ the magic of a visual metaphor) into a self-coaching Visual Template to support your 2025 GOALS – our gift to you!
Download Our Self-Coaching 2025 Goals Visual Template
Once you are ready to take some quiet time to sit with your New Year’s resolutions for 2025, then print out the visual template, find a cozy spot and maybe a cup of tea and follow the steps below to weave practical goal-getting steps into the rhythm of your life.
Suggested Process for Applying Visual Magic to New Year’s Resolutions in 2025:
- Download + Print out a copy of the 2025 GOALS Visual Template
- Set aside :30 (put a timer on if it helps you avoid distractions)
- Sit down in a reflective space and hand-write your answers
- 3 practical ways to begin using the GOALS Visual Template:
- BRANCHES | GOALS: Start TOP DOWN with your GOALS for the year. In each of the 5 numbered areas of the tree branches, write your top 5 Goals for 2025 – include a mix of both professional and personal goals.
- TRUNK | MOTIVATIONS: In the trunk of the tree, write down the feelings you desire to have when you achieve your goals – these are your motivations.
- ROOTS | HABITS: In the roots of the tree, write the actions you will take on a daily, weekly and monthly basis that will help real-ize your goals. These actions should be measurable so that you can reflect on a monthly basis, and make future adjustments to REALIGN as needed.
- BONUS + SUPPORT: Set yourself up for success in two main methods using the visual template
- SUPPORT section: list 3 ways in the BONUS section of the template that you can support yourself to succeed (crucial to self-coaching!). This is fundamental — and will make all the difference between success or failure.
- Then, add a repeating calendar invite to your calendar for the first (or last) of each month for :30 to circle back to your GOALS Template to REFLECT + REALIGN.
Suggestions for Monthly Reflecting + Realigning Your 2025 New Year’s Goals
During the time that you have allotted for yourself to circle back to your GOALS Visual Template (and added a repeating calendar invite to support this rhythm), deepen your self-coaching experience by:
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- Honoring that appointment, as you would with a friend or business colleague. (Put a timer on if it helps you stay focused.)
- Look back at your month and REFLECT:
- Celebrate your successes (even the small ones!), list them, give yourself “gold stars,” or track and acknowledge them in any way that is easy and/or meaningful for you.
- Learn from + release where you didn’t succeed (it will happen!).
- Realign to your GOALS + adjust your daily, weekly + monthly actions as necessary.
Broader TIPS for Applying This Visual Metaphor Tool and Maintaining Your Momentum:
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- GOALS: include a mix of personal + professional goals. Remember, you are a whole person! Your whole life deserves attention, focus, and support.
- FEELINGS: While you certainly can’t choose how you feel all the time, with preparation and practice you can learn to intentionally bring the feeling you desire to a situation. For example, if you desire to feel calm in a tense situation, you could prepare by giving yourself what you need to start in a calm state (walk, exercise, journal, meditate, talk it through, etc.). Ask yourself “What would support me to feel ____ (feeling) in _______ (this situation)?”
- HABITS: Each numbered daily, weekly and monthly action can correspond to that specific numbered goal listed above in the tree (i.e. #4 action refers to #4 GOAL) – or they can be more fluid and apply to multiple goals.
- REFLECT: You can scroll through your calendar (and/or camera roll) for the past month as a window into how you have spent your time, energy and attention. Remember to be compassionate – and curious – if one of your actions isn’t happening: What other impactful action could you replace it with?
- REALIGN: There’s a time for just following the plan (daily and weekly actions you set for yourself)…and then there’s also a time to ask yourself if what you are doing is no longer aligned for you.
- ITERATE: Feel free to print a few copies of the Visual GOALS Template and use one as a draft/brainstorm and the other as your “final” version once it feels resonant. You can also create another iteration – or even a completely fresh start – at any time during the year. It’s natural that priorities and opportunities will shift as you go forward.
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You are welcome to share this 2025 GOALS Visual Template with friends + colleagues for individual, non-commercial use — please just attribute to creativecatalyst.com (and link back to us if sharing online!).
Please let us know in the comments below how the process goes for you! We value + respond personally to every comment.