7 Goal Setting Tips for 2025

We have been making New Year’s resolutions for 4 000 years – since the Ancient Babylonians marked the start of the spring planting season by swearing to be loyal to their king and repay their debts. Our resolutions today are not that different, as we swear to be more loving, caring partners, and attentive, successful employees, and to clear our credit card debt – not to mention shed extra kilos, get fit, and cut back on social media.

Yet 64% of us give up on our resolutions in just a month, according to a 2021 study in the Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Don’t let that happen to you in 2025.

“Think not just of what you want, but why you want it – and visualise the outcome as if you have already achieved it,” says Gauteng counselling psychologist Karin Steyn. “If we can’t ‘see’ it happening, it’s unlikely it will. And it’s vital that it’s a strong ‘why’ that resonates with your values and will add a sense of purpose or self.”

7 Top goal setting tips

1. Set SMART goals, still the basics of Business 101. “When goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-related, you’re far more likely to achieve them,” Steyn says. Instead of resolving vaguely to “get in shape”, spell it out: “I’ll walk 20 minutes a day, five days a week”. Use an activity tracker to record and measure your progress, then build on it: as you start feeling fitter, add resistance training two or three times a week.
 
2. Frame your goals as positives, not negatives – “I’ll take alcohol-free drinks to braais” not “I’ll quit drinking”; “I’ll order grilled fish, baked potato and salads”, rather than “I’ll never order burgers and fries or pizzas again”.
 
3. Make goals minimal, not maximal ‘all or nothing’ ones – “I’ll sort out one shelf a week”, not “I’ll declutter the garage/ house”; “I’ll cut down to five cigarettes a day and join CANSA’s eKick Butt programme” (https://www.ekickbutt.org.za/ekickbutt.htm), not “I’ll quit smoking”. You’re far more likely to do it, and be motivated to keep doing it, says Durban industrial psychologist Robyn Sandy, owner/manager at Interchange International South Africa. “There’s a great warning in the book The 4 Disciples of Execution by McChesney, Covey and Huling, that says the more you try to do, the less you accomplish: ‘Your chances of achieving two or three goals with excellence are high, but the more goals you try to juggle at once, the less likely you will be to reach them’.”
 
4. Take steps to support your goals by changing situations that feed bad habits and keep you stuck. If plopping on the sofa after work prompts you to reach for a beer or cigarette, go for a jog and shower instead, or kick a ball with the kids or your mates. Empty the fridge of beers and your drawers of cigarettes, and stock up on pretzels, air-popped popcorn, roast chickpeas and cherry tomatoes, with hummus or yoghurt. Keep jugs of iced water with fresh lemon, or with blackberries and mint.
 
5. Commit to your goals in a journal. For some people, going public on social media may provide potent motivation, as others encourage, tease or goad you on. But for many, it’s best to not announce what you are attempting, because of the pressure and fear of failure that can result, says Steyn. “Having a trusted accountability partner, however, is good.” “Writing things down is a game-changer,” adds Sandy. “And in his bestseller Atomic Habits (Penguin Random House), James Clear explains that to start new habits and drop bad, we need to make the new behaviour obvious, attractive, easy and satisfying, and the old behaviour invisible, unattractive, difficult and unsatisfying. Try it!”
 
6. To make new behaviour satisfying, reward yourself when you achieve smaller milestones along the way – clear out all the shelves in a cupboard, get down to 5 smokes a day, or reach 5 000 steps on a tracker. Trumpet it and get a pat on the back from your mates. Then treat yourself to something you’d love, but that fits your goals – a new fitness gadget or outfit, tickets to a concert, a weekend away.
 
7. Resolve to recover if you slip, not quit! If you chug back a beer or indulge in some choc, don’t throw in the towel and polish off a six-pack or the entire extra-large bar of chocolate. Be kind and forgive yourself, says Steyn. Enjoy your guilty pleasure. And resolve to next time grab a low-cal beer – or cup of hot chocolate. Lay on natural cocoa or carob powder tomorrow, and make it with low-fat milk, a bit of sugar, and a cinnamon stick or vanilla. Your bros will want in!
 
If you struggle to set or stick to goals, get professional help: consult a life coach or career coach, or depending on the area you are addressing, a fitness coach, dietitian, financial adviser or relationship counsellor; and seek out support groups. “Get help in any shape or form,” says Sandy. “Reading something like Atomic Habits can also assist tremendously.”

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