Tips for writing your “25 for 25” list

The start of a new year offers a terrific opportunity to reflect on what we want from the next twelve months.

Making a New Year’s resolution is a popular way to set those aims, but it’s not the only way. Resolutions don’t work for everyone. 

Each year on the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast, my sister Elizabeth and I follow three exercises to set ourselves up for the year ahead:

• • Choose a one-word theme–this year, my theme is “Door”

• • Create a “25 for ’25” list–a list of aims I want to work toward (the number is based on the year, for a bit of whimsy)

This trifecta of tools helps me to fill my year with growth, accomplishment, and happiness. Making this yearly list is one of my favorite ways to think creatively about designing my year–it’s so energizing to consider what items I want to add to my list.

Download a template to make your own list.

My biggest tip for creating your own “25 for ’25” list is to focus on actions, not outcomes. “Learn three new Italian words each day” works better than “Learn Italian.” “Watch a classic movie every Sunday night” works better than “Have more fun.” Actions are concrete, achievable, and help us make progress toward the more distant outcomes.

Take into account whether you’re an Upholder, Questioner, Obliger, or Rebel. (Don’t know? Take the free quiz here.)

• • Obligers—find an accountability partner for tackling the “25 for ’25” list, or find a form of accountability for  individual items; also, the “25 for ’25” list may itself serve as a form of accountability

• • Questioners—consider tracking your aims, customizing a plan, or articulating clearly why you’ve decided to put something on the list

• • Upholders—spell out your items clearly and add them to your calendar, if possible (I find that I do much better with an item when it actually appears on my schedule)

• • Rebels—remember, this list isn’t a “to-do” list but a “could-do” list, and it’s meant to help you do what you want, when you choose, to put your identity into the world

Many people fill their lists with things they should do and don’t include items they want to do. But feel free to add fun items to the list–in fact, some people choose to make a list of only fun things! (Obligers, in particular, can use their “25 for ’25” list to create outer accountability for making time for enjoyable activities.)

For example…

• • Plan a whimsical adventure, like “Visit five quirky roadside attractions”
  • Have fun with the number of the year—”Listen to 25 new songs” or “Try 25 new hikes”

• • Include things you’ll stop doing
  • Make your list in the form of “bingo”—2025 makes for a great bingo card of aims, with a 5×5! Gamifying the list makes it more fun to tackle. Download a blank bingo card for your list here.

Crossing things off your list always feels great, and it helps build momentum toward the more challenging ones. I always include one item I can cross off right away (this year, it was “Watch Die Hard“), plus a few more easy items, like “Visit The New York Earth Room” to balance out more difficult ones, like “Catch up on photo albums.”

To achieve your aims, it’s useful to keep your list somewhere where you see it often—and some people enjoy decorating their lists in imaginative ways.

I keep my list posted on the cork-board beside my desk. A friend uses her list as the screensaver on her phone.

If you want a template, print out the free “25 for ’25” template.

If you try and fail to cross items off your list, don’t be hard on yourself. Never once have I managed to achieve every item on my list.

I’ve had many items repeat year after year until I finally managed to achieve them. (Ask Elizabeth how many years she included “Make a will” on her list!) I’ve had items that I’ve crossed off, because I decided I didn’t, in fact, want to do them. I’ve had items that ended up being impossible to do. I had one item shift from my 2024 list to my 2025 list because of a mistake; I had the wrong date for the anniversary of my children’s-literature reading group.

As Voltaire said, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” With a “25 for ’25” list, or anything else.

Good luck with your list, and happy new year!