Tis Me Michelle

It’s that time of year… I did a recap on the last post about how I didn’t necessarily ‘thrive’ this past year. Just because I don’t feel as accomplished as I’d hoped, all in all, I survived. And I’m still here, making my goals for the upcoming year… So if you’re interested in this forever journey I’m on, here are my 2025 goals (pretty similar to last year, with some tweaks, additions, and adjustments).

I did a variety of planning exercises over the past few weeks. Lots of planning tips from Lavendaire and Mel Robbins. I even saw a TikTok of someone who gave me ChatGPT prompts to help with this as well. ChatGPT pleasantly surprised me with the results I got back. From Lavendaire’s breakdown, I had a word last year, which was ‘thriving’. I didn’t feel like that ended up happening, and I kept feeling the lack of it. One of the prompts for ChatGPT was to come up with a 2025 affirmation, and I think that kind of captures what I am trying to get at with life a bit more:

“I am confident in my body, my health, and my choices. I am a consistent, kind, and determined person who shows up for others and for myself. I trust in my ability to build meaningful relationships, create impactful work, and achieve financial and personal success. Every setback is an opportunity to grow, and I am always moving forward towards my goals.”

Not bad for AI, right? It’s a bit fluffy, but it is a pretty decent summary of what I’m going for. By no surprise, the main ‘pillars’ will remain the same. If you recall, it’s Career, Finances, Health, and Relationships. Let’s start with my priority order.

Health

The fact that I got my acid reflux in control, for the most part, this past year has been a huge win. My biggest battle in health (and everywhere) has consistently been consistency. I can’t deny that I am pretty lazy and inconsistent with my general health, though. I want to start earlier in the year by getting up-to-date check-ups and just being aware of where I am at. And become mindful of how I can hopefully naturally get myself healthier overall.

I have been super aware that I too often eat junk out of habit and comfort. I owe it to myself to really care for my body, that’s been overly forgiving all these years. I wish I weren’t such a loyal DoorDasher. One way I’ll be trying to achieve this goal is by cooking new, nutritious, and delicious recipes each week. I do actually enjoy cooking. I love cooking for others, but for just me, I get lazy. I think having it help other categories and also making a project, like making my own ‘cookbook’ of my favorites, will make this a more achievable goal. Do you have any go-to recipes? Let me know in the comments!

I know what I’ll be doing for exercise. My friend had mentioned ClassPass to me a few times, but I had never given it a try. I signed up for a class with her this upcoming week, and then I saw they offer classes for both Club Pilates and Rumble, which was my perfect combo! It’s at a much more reasonable price point than joining either of them on their own. Given that I sign up for them before the slots are booked out, I’m aiming for three workouts a week.

It may also be time for me to strongly consider starting therapy (again) and taking it seriously.

Finances

If you recall, this was the area I completely slacked in last year. Honestly, I wish I had started caring about my finances quite a while ago. I have been very lucky all things considered, over the last several years, especially. I want to make sure I have a sense of stability. That will mean cutting back on spending so much (especially) on food. Trying new food and restaurants and writing my blogs have been a fun hobby and passion, but I do need to be considerate of my wallet. Cooking more at home would definitely help in this category as well.

There are additional areas I can cut back and save more aggressively. One area I will scale back a bit on is traveling. I’ve had a great few years of traveling a lot. As of now, I have 2 official trips planned and 1 maybe trip. One quick weekend trip to New Orleans at the beginning of the year, which has been very affordable so far. Then a long weekend in Paris in September, which will be a bit more expensive, but manageable since it’s just a weekend. The maybe trip would be to Uganda with one of my BFF’s, which would be a time and financial commitment. I’m on the fence about it, but it would also be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip. We shall see if that one pans out. If it doesn’t, I’ll probably add one more small weekend trip to Seattle, because I’ve been meaning to go to Chateau Ste. Michelle for years.

I have a bad habit of leaving my house… and dropping a stupid amount of money on who knows what. And, likely due to my people-pleasing ways, I am always up for everything with everyone. I gotta cut that out. My goal at the end of this year is to have a specific amount saved so that I feel more secure. And to be done with my college and car loans.

Relationships

This is very similar, if not just continuing forward from last year. Here’s what ChatGPT spewed out as my goal in this category based on my inputs:

• Show up for others in meaningful ways, deepening relationships with those who bring positivity into your life.
• Let go of relationships that bring negativity and set healthy boundaries with family.
• Begin dating with an open heart and learn how to find a romantic partner who aligns with your values and goals.

In those personality tests, I always get the ‘mediator’ type of result. At least for me, that seems to translate to conflict avoidance. I hate being in awkward or uncomfortable situations, even if I land myself there. I’m going to work on taking a second to think about how and what I am actually feeling and want to say. And showing up authentically, rather than trying to make everyone happy or comfortable. I often think so much about how others will react or what they may think, when in reality, they haven’t even had a thought in my direction. Plus, I need to learn how to just walk away from a situation, even if I’ve invested time (and/or money) in it. I tend to overstay situations and relationships I know aren’t meant for me or are not serving me. Hopefully, these things will help in the romance department… if I ever make it there.

Career

This is an area that ends up sucking up so much of my thoughts and energy. I can totally go down bad mental health holes because of it. At the end of the day, my job is primarily to support my life. But as I’ve mentioned before, I cannot fully detach myself from the work. In my day job, aka the only paying job I have, I am currently a Delivery Manager. This role is still pretty new to me, but I am investing in doing well. I want to be more confident in myself and my performance. That means I’ll have to invest time upskilling myself on the side. I know that to find any sense of fulfillment in this job, I want to add value to my team and feel that I am valued for the work I do.

On the opposite side of this coin, I know this job is not my ‘passion’. And that is okay, and quite the cliche millennial struggle. Ideally speaking, I would like to continue my blog. Based on these other ‘pillars’, there may be adjustments. I may be adding more recipes on top of restaurant reviews. And we know every now and then, like these blogs I post about personal growth, and sometimes movies and TV. That will be sprinkled in too, but I want to actually do a full year of consistency and learn how to post better content on socials. The end goal is that I can make some income through this.

Life

Oh yeah, one more category as per my ChatGPT prompt. An excerpt from ‘Life and Personal Development’:

• Continue to nurture your love for art by taking regular art classes and enjoying the creative process.
• Travel with intention, enjoying trips while balancing saving and financial goals.
• Incorporate French learning into your daily routine, whether it’s practicing vocabulary, listening to French podcasts, or watching French videos. Consistency is key to fluency.
• Make time to volunteer and to give back.
• Prioritize structure and consistency, learning to stay on track with your goals, even after setbacks.

We’ve already covered travel. I want to make time for things I love, just be more intentional (and mindful of costs). Art has always given me joy, and it is such a great mental health tool for me. I signed up for a film photography class that starts in January. My intention for art is simply to enjoy it. Pretty much every time I take a class or have one of my phases, I go down a rabbit hole of ‘I wish I could do this for a living’. And listen, that would be so cool. But I’ve never been super consistent with any one medium to become good enough to actually pursue it, nor have I found that passion in any one of those mediums. I simply love and enjoy whatever it is I’m getting immersed in that week. And that is enough in itself.

Learning French has been a long-time goal, once I incorporated it into my current 75 Soft Challenge. Which I could be doing much better at… The ultimate goal is that I can understand and hopefully have at least basic conversations by the time I go back to Paris later in the year.

As I was thinking about my ‘word’ or ‘phrase’ for the year, I kept thinking that I wanted to have selfish growth. Our goals are obviously selfish, but as I mentioned, my people-pleasing tendencies, I so often end up thinking about what I ‘should’ want versus what I do want. I wanted to remind myself that it is okay to be selfish, especially in these categories, because it will only be better for me and everyone if I am selfish; this is my personal, mental, and physical growth.

The other word that kept coming to me was to ‘Serve’. Giving back and partaking in causes I think are actually making a positive impact, and volunteering has been on my mind. This can come off as selfish, too, since there is a good feeling you get about yourself when you give back. With the way this world has been leaning and the clear disparity between wealth, I can’t help but want to do something. Something that actually helps people. I’m still figuring out where and what I can do. If there are organizations you recommend, please let me know in the comments!

Dear 2025

I can’t deny I’m a bit wary, given these past… several years. But I won’t feel bad about being selfish to show up for myself and show up better in this world. The main theme and the biggest thing I need to work on is being consistent and not so easily deterred. One last bit of wisdom from ChatGPT, based on my goals, an inspirational quote:

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier

What are your 2025 goals?!