By Marnie Kunz, NASM-certified trainer, USATF- RRCA-certified run coach

If you’re wondering how to set goals in 2025 that actually stick, these tips will help. Taking a moment to assess your life and learning how to set attainable, long-term goals will help you enter 2025 feeling more positive, grounded, and healthy. This doesn’t mean you have to be unrealistic and set out to run a marathon, pen a novel, and land your dream job all at once. This article will help you set smart goals that allow you to pursue your passions and stay inspired, while making steady, measurable progress toward your personal goals.

These tips on how to set goals in 2025 will help you create your own path for a rewarding year ahead. Learning to set a time-bound, specific goal that you break down into short term milestones will help you succeed.

Keep in mind that if you’re struggling with mental or physical health, focusing on that area of your life should be a priority. Check out our mental health section for more tips, resources, and advice from experts on mental health.

How to Set Goals - The Basics

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Before we begin setting 2025 goals, it’s helpful to look back at 2024 and assess how your goals went. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

What worked or didn’t work with your goals in 2024?
Did you accomplish your big goals? If so, what helped you stay on track to reach your desired outcome? Examining your achievements will help you set successful goals again.
The goals that didn’t come to fruition have valuable lessons as well. What roadblocks stood in the way of achieving your goals? Were they achievable goals or too big and vague? Did external circumstances create barriers to achieving your goals?
Are there goals from 2024 that you still want to achieve? How can you re-work these goals to be more specific and attainable? Setting realistic goals with a timeline and tracking your progress will help you break down your goals into manageable steps.

Your past goals can help you learn and adapt and learn how to set goals in 2025 that you achieve. The next step is brainstorming your 2025 goals.

Brainstorm Your Top Priorities

Sit down and make a list of your top priorities for 2025. Do you have goals related to personal health, your career and workplace, fitness, family health, financial security, or professional goals? The most important areas you want to work on will become apparent as you brainstorm.

Now you can set goals based on the areas of your life you want to improve the most.

Focus on One Big Goal

If your health is paramount, for instance, you may set a goal to lose weight, gain muscle, do a run streak, etc. If you lost your job in 2024, career may be your focus and you can set a goal to earn a new certificate or degree or transition to a new job or career field. The key is to focus on your biggest goal as your main priority.

According to researchers, setting too many goals can have negative effects on people and decrease your chance of achieving any goals, so it’s best to focus on only one big goal at a time. You may also set smaller goals for different areas of your life, which we will cover in this article.

Set Smarter Goals

Once you have your main goal, it’s time to apply the S.M.A.R.T. test. Is your goal:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Use this S.M.A.R.T. goal test any time you set a goal. Your goal should be challenging but not unattainable. Also, it has to be something you can measure so you can track progress and know when you achieve it.

Effective goal setting also requires a timeline. Set a deadline for your goal. It doesn’t have to be exactly one year-long goal - it may be 3 months, 6 months, or 5 years, for instance.

Set Milestones

Milestones are smaller goals that are measurable and keep you on track for your big 2025 goals. If your goal is to lose 15 pounds, for instance, a milestone may be to lift weights 3 times a week and run 15 miles a week. Or you may set a milestone to track your eating for one month.

If your goal is to find a job, you may set a milestone of sending out 15 resumes per week. If you’re working on your personal finances, you may set a goal to save $1,000, with a milestone of saving $20 per week to reach that goal in 2024.

Short-term goals give you a sense of accomplishment and they can build toward achieveing your long-term goal. The goal setting process takes persistence and flexibility as you may need to adjust your goals at times, but it will be worth it in the end.

Schedule Your Goals

Once you have your goal and milestones, you can schedule what you need to do in your calendar. Plan when you will be putting in the work to achieve this goal. Whether this means scheduling your workouts or blocking out study time, putting it on your calendar will help you take the actions you need to build your goals into your daily routine for longterm success.

Balancing Your Goals

You don’t want to set too many big goals in 2025, but you may have different areas of your life where you have smaller goals. For instance, if your main goal is to run the NYC Marathon, then you won’t want to also set heavy weightlifting goals while you are training for your marathon. Instead, if you want to stay on track with strength training, set performance goals of lifting twice a week.

Another example is if you want to improve your relationship or dating life, then you might set a smaller goal of going on one date a month.

In my experience coaching people, they do best when they focus on one big goal at a time. It is helpful for a balanced life to also have some smaller goals in different areas of life, but don’t make them solely outcome goals. They can often be process goals that give you satisfaction and improvement in different areas of your life.

Set Process Goals

If you want to learn how to set goals that you will achieve in 2025, it helps to have one big goal and some other smaller goals. Process goals are my personal favorite for smaller goals and they’re a top secret for self-motivated people everywhere. Instead of just focusing on one outcome, such as losing 15 pounds or landing your dream job, or winning a race, process goals focus on the journey.

Process goals are ones you have control over and, as the name implies, focus on the process, not an outcome you can’t control. A process goal may be sending out 15 resumes, seeing your family for an uninterrupted hour every evening, or running five times in a week. Process goals are great for uncertain times as circumstances may often be beyond your control, but you can still have direction and maintain your positive momentum.

Track Your Goals

Track your goals and share your progress. You can do this in your own personal spreadsheet or by using fitness tracking apps or task management and list apps. If you have running goals, check out our article on the best running apps to help you track your runs and stats. Choose a tracking system that works best for you and you’ll be more likely to stick to it. Follow and tag Runstreet on Instagram for extra motivation, training tips, discounts, and events throughout the year, and we will be happy to cheer you on.

Finally, and most importantly, don’t be too hard on yourself. The past year was a challenging year for many people, and it’s ok if you don’t conquer the world in 2025. Just don’t stop trying. 😊

Marnie Kunz is a NASM-certified personal trainer and USATF- and RRCA-certified running coach based in Brooklyn, NY. Marnie likes helping people get and stay active to enjoy a better quality of life. When she’s not doing fitness things, Marnie enjoys exploring with her dog, a mischievous rescue Akita.

How to Set Goals in 2025