The Year of Living Wholly

A Grace-Filled Path to Intentional Goal Setting in 2025 + My Word of the Year

We’re over a week into the year, and I still haven’t finalized any goals or created a Pinterest-worthy, Canva-made vision board. In previous seasons, I was so ready and excited for a fresh start. I’d buy all the luxury planners, set ambitious goals, and craft a manifesto to guide my year. Even now, I feel a flicker of that same excitement—I love the talk of motivation, productivity, and discipline. I even wrote a 5-day challenge on developing the discipline to help people accomplish their goals. But for the last few years, the typical push for productivity hasn’t resonated with me.

Some of this shift is due to my current season of life as a solo, primary parent. Yet a bigger part of me has grown wary of how goal-setting is often entangled with hustle culture. A lot of this lure to set New Year resolutions and goals is predicated and built on hustle culture that highlights and praises self and success. It's all about manifesting and living your dreams, right? Your year is only good if you secure the house, the money, the job, the body -- the lifestyle you want.

Okay, I’m being a little facetious, but you get the point. The messaging around New Year’s resolutions often encourages striving. It’s about hustling and achieving at all costs. And yet, only 9% of people stick with their resolutions. Sure, some of that comes down to poor planning or a lack of accountability, but I wonder if the weight of unrealistic expectations is also to blame.

Our culture is great at guilting us into goals. If you’re not chasing something big and shiny, it can feel like you’re falling behind. But I don’t need that pressure. Life already has enough of it. Instead, I’ve learned to value a meaningful life—one that honors the quiet, significant ways of living, doing, and being.

In the past, my goals often aligned with what I call “vanity goals.” They weren’t all self-serving, but they were self-consuming. I’d pour every ounce of energy into making things happen, to the point that those goals became idols. Now, instead of striving, I’m focusing on areas of intention and habit-building.

This year, I’ve redefined how I approach goal-setting and focus. Paid subscribers will get an exclusive look at the areas where I’m directing my attention, my grace-filled strategy for 2025, and the word of the year that’s guiding me.

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