Two Thousand Twenty Five

The New Year Has Arrived.

And with it, a lot of new things.

Since this is my first post of 2025, I wanted to dive into the topic of goals before starting a new series (and the podcast). I have my own goals – both personal and “professional” – but what are your goals? What do you hope to accomplish this year? One great tip I’ve learned about goal-setting is to always write down your goals. Hence, this post…

Rather than doing what I did last year and dumping a list of short-term aspirations, in 2025 I’d like to focus on some bigger, more important things. Goals that I may not see the fruit of this year, but that I aspire to grow in for years to come.

Goals for 2025

Joy.

In his bestselling book, How To Win Friends & Influence People, the legendary Dale Carnegie said, “It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”

As I look over everything that has happened in my life (both good and bad), I see so much to be thankful for. So much. This year I want to be happy with everything God has given me and not fall victim to comparison or discontentment. God has blessed me with great tools, abilities, opportunities, and resources. I don’t want to waste them.

I want to rewire my brain to be thankful for what I have, and not continually chase the next thing. I can’t let my own thoughts dictate what I do. In 2025, I choose to practice joy over jealousy.

Excellence.

This year I want to do my best in everything. As someone who loves writing, designing, photography, videography, etc., it’s easy to phone it in and do a cheap job. I don’t want that.

In their revolutionary book Do Hard Things, brothers Alex & Brett Harris declare, “It’s easy to be content with less than our best, especially when our halfhearted efforts seem to satisfy everyone around us. And being ‘good enough’ can turn into a special hazard. Those who could do a lot better or tackle a much bigger challenge seldom do so when they’re already ‘good enough’ by other people’s standards.”

The last thing I want is to toss aside God’s plan by doing a cheap job. The last thing I want is to let my human nature hold me back. It’s why I aspire to do more than is asked of me. As Colossians 3:23 (NIV) says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” In 2025, I choose to practice excellence over excuses.

Skill.

It’s no joke that we all want to get better at the things we love. One amazing way to build your skillset is to learn about it. What? I know, it’s crazy how much of a difference it makes. Three of my favourite ways to learn are via watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, and reading books (I especially recommend the latter). The bonus is, the more you learn, the more epic quotes and references you get ahold of.

As James Clear says in Atomic Habits, “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” He goes on to point out that you should ask yourself what a successful person in your field would do. Kinda like the good old WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) saying. What would the best blogger, photographer, student, etc. do if they were in my shoes?

Because of this, I began an internship with my church’s communications team earlier this year. While watching videos, listening to podcasts, and reading are great, nothing beats learning from the pros. And I promise you, if you look, there are always people willing to help. It’s an awesome way to actively learn. This is just one of the areas where I’m choosing skill over sluggishness.

Us.

By us, I mean people. Jesus cared about people, and I want to do the same. As a content creator, if there aren’t people on the other end, I’m out of business. I want to make 2025 a year of deeply connecting with my family, friends, and readers. Not only that, but genuinely caring about them.

Dale Carnegie says, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” If you want people to care about you, care about them and appreciate them. To quote Teddy Roosevelt, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much they care.”

In 2025, I choose us over unkindness.

Strategy.

My strategy stems from my personal convictions. As John C. Maxwell said in The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: “If you want to be a great communicator, your motivation…must be to make a difference in the lives of people. To successfully make a difference, you must believe you can make a difference.” To succeed, I must believe God has placed a call on my life.

My strategy for 2025 is God first as I look for new opportunities to grow. In his book Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders states, “If a Christian is not willing to rise early and work late, to expend greater effort in diligent study and faithful work, that person will not change a generation. Fatigue is the price of leadership. Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired.”

I know it will be hard, but if I want to make any kind of difference, I can’t settle for being average, for investing just some of my time, for only doing it when it’s convenient. A big part of strategy is also about knowing where I’ll end up, and knowing what I hope to do in the future. As Stephen Covey said in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind.” You must keep planning, keep learning, keep improving, continually. This is why I’m choosing strategy over staleness.

When you put it all together…

Goals on their own are great, but if you have the wrong reason for pursuing them, there’s no point. This is why the root of my goals (Joy, Excellence, Skill, Us, and Strategy) will always be rooted in JESUS.

I know this year won’t be perfect. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try. I plead with you to do the same. To quote Sun Tzu, “Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”

What is God calling you to do?

Now I have a question for you. What step is God asking you to take this year? What hard thing is He calling you to pursue? Moreover, will you listen? Starting a website, blog, and podcast wasn’t easy, but my desire was to glorify God. So I did it. Will you do what He asks?

Here’s the bottom line, to quote Robert Kiyosaki: “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.” Read that again. Sometimes you win, which is great. But sometimes you don’t, and instead you learn. Even if you don’t succeed, “failure” is a masterful teacher.

So ask God what He wants you to achieve. Then do it. I’m young, yet I’ve already done more than I could have ever imagined. Far more than I could’ve done on my own. And it’s more than worth it. What goals will you set this year?

Once again, Happy New Year! I pray nothing but the best for you and your goals, and I’ll see you next week for the start of my new series!

As I said at the beginning, the mere act of setting goals makes a world of difference. As motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said…

“A goal properly set is halfway reached.”