How I’m Designing an Adventure Year Instead of Setting Goals for 2025

I have completed 75 Hard three times. I am a Capricorn. I love a good list, checking it twice, and conquering a challenge. Honestly, I just can’t help myself.

But I’ve also learned that sometimes my obsession with structure works against me.

I hate New Year’s goals and resolutions, but I love the feeling of growth, rebirth, and challenging oneself. The problem is, SMART goals, OKRs, and all those rigid systems work great for my professional life, but in my personal life, they utterly fall apart.

When it comes to my real, not-work life, I’ve tried forcing myself to stick to habits-like writing down three things I’m grateful for daily, waking up at 5 a.m. for an elaborate morning routine, or drinking a specific number of ounces of water each day.

Every time, I either give up within a few weeks or end up resenting the process entirely.

So, instead of forcing resolutions that don’t work this year, I’m trying something new: creating an Adventure Year for 2025.

Why Traditional Goals Don’t Work for Me

Here’s why I’ve stopped setting traditional New Year’s goals:

• They’re Rooted in Lack: Goals are often about what we think is missing-discipline, productivity, health-rather than celebrating what we already have or enjoy.
• They Don’t Take Real Life into Consideration: Resolutions don’t allow for life to be messy. If I miss a day or mess up, I feel like I’ve blown it entirely.
• They Aren’t Fun: If the process doesn’t excite or inspire me, I lose motivation quickly. Why stick to something that doesn’t bring joy?

But that’s when the thought epiphany hit me: rigid goals don’t align with the kind of life I want to live. What I need instead is something flexible-feeling, meaningful, and rooted in curiosity — not obligation.

What Is an Adventure Year?

An Adventure Year is a way to design a year around spark-the things that make you feel alive, curious, and connected to yourself. It’s not about chasing perfection or outcomes; it’s about creating space for growth and joy while leaving room for life to happen.

Here’s how I’m structuring mine:

• Ground: Building small habits that help me feel present and mindful, like a 5-minute morning brain dump or short meditations.
• Glow: Prioritizing joy and creativity through projects that make me happy, like baking a new recipe every month for my Christmas cookie box.
• Grow: Expanding my horizons with a year-long storytelling course I’ve always wanted to take.
• Gratitude: Reflecting on the small wins and celebrating what really matters.
• Grit: Tackling meaningful challenges that push me outside my comfort zone, like sharing my writing publicly.

The difference? These aren’t focus areas about fixing myself. These are focus areas about rediscovering what makes me feel like me. The 5 G framework is my bespoke secret to success in coaching with so many of my clients, it’s worked for me and hundreds of others I figured I’d apply it to my adventure year.

Why It Feels Different

For the first time in years, I’m feeling excited about this new year-not because I have this really long checklist, but I’ve created a framework that feels joyful and intentional.

For example:

• Ground: I used to try to meditate 15 minutes a day, but instead, I am committed to starting off with 5 minutes, three times a week.
• Glow: Baking macarons isn’t a necessity for my life — but it is something that I want because it creates a spark of joy.
• Grow: I am not setting a goal to write a book, but I am taking a storytelling course to explore a passion I’ve been putting off.

This approach feels flexible, meaningful, and most importantly-fun.

How to Create Your Own Adventure Year

If traditional goals don’t work for you either, here’s how to create your own Adventure Year:

• Reflect on what sparks joy: Ask yourself, “What makes me feel alive? What do I want to explore or rediscover this year?” Write those things down.
• Choose Your Themes of Focus: Pick topics that resonate with you-3 to 5 themes. Mine are Ground, Glow, Grow, Gratitude, and Grit, but yours can be whatever feels true for you.
• Set Intentions, Not Rules: Focus on how you want to feel and what you want to experience, not just what you want to accomplish.

Your Adventure Year does not have to be an exercise in achievement or perfection. It can be about finding what really matters to you and leaning into that.

Let’s Make 2025 Different

This year, I’m not chasing resolutions. I’m designing an Adventure Year that feels joyful, flexible, and full of spark.

If this resonates with you, I’m hosting a free workshop to help others map out their own Adventure Year for 2025. We’ll focus on your unique goals, set meaningful intentions, and create tools to make your year exciting and fulfilling.