Ditch the New Year’s Resolutions [Do THIS First]

Written by: Vincent Pedre M.D. | January 3, 2025 | Time to read 3 min

As we step into 2025, I imagine you’ve already started thinking about your goals for the year: lose weight, save more money, maybe learn a new skill or finally stick to that meditation routine. But wait! Stop! This isn’t gonna work, so why are you starting another year by thinking you’re going to do things differently than in 2024?!?!

For many, these resolutions are an annual tradition—but by February, they’ve often fallen to the wayside. This can leave you feeling frustrated, disappointed, and stuck in the same loop. The guilt. The shame. Honestly, it’s easier to fail than to try.

But what if I told you to forget those New Year’s goals entirely and instead shift your focus to something deeper and far more transformative?

Here’s the truth: the problem with resolutions isn’t the goals themselves. It’s the disconnect between where you are now and the life you envision living. That gap can feel overwhelming, making it hard to take the first step—or stay consistent.

What if, instead of reaching for external achievements, you paused to explore the patterns and feelings driving your daily choices? The truth is that to truly transform your year, you need to uncover the underlying feelings and patterns that dictate your actions. And by answering just a few questions, outlined in 4 steps below, you can start making that shift right away.

These mindfulness exercises may seem tedious or time-consuming, but trust me, having done these types of exercises with friends, family, and my followers, I know they simply work. A little dose of mindful reflection goes a long way toward helping you establish healthier habits and stick with your goals.

Why is that? It comes down to just that ⸺ YOUR WHY…

Why do you do what you do? What motivates you? What keeps you going? What brings you happiness, joy, and fulfillment? The WHY behind what you do uncovers the deeper truth of where the motivation comes from, and where your motivation can be rebirthed when the mundane of daily life dampens your drive.

And this is why I want you to do THIS first: 

Grab a notebook or a few note oversize cards. Take a moment to reflect on the past year by answering these questions:

What moments made you feel most alive or fulfilled in 2024?
Think about when you felt joy, connection, or purpose. Write them down. Be as detailed as possible. 

HINT: One way that helped me remember the most distinct moments of 2024 was to look through my camera roll to help me remember all the things I did in 2024.

What moments made you feel least alive or fulfilled in 2024?
Pinpoint the times when you felt drained, stuck, or disconnected. This may be a hard one. You’ve got to be really honest with yourself. Don’t hold back, even if it means admitting that things you “should” have liked are things you really did not enjoy at all. 

Now, analyze those moments:

What do the positive and negative moments have in common?
Look for patterns. Are there commonalities that stand out? Were your best moments in community? Or alone? What feeds your soul?

Were your happiest times spent with loved ones, working on a passion project, or being outdoors?

Did the hard moments come from overcommitting or neglecting your own needs? What is it that made those moments make you feel less alive or fulfilled?

It’s not all sunshine and roses. We’ve got to look at the shadow side, because that’s the side of you that will get in the way of your intentions for 2025.

Do you feel you’re not deserving enough? Not good enough? Don’t love yourself enough? These are the feelings and thoughts that are going to get in the way of creating the 2025 that you aspire towards.

So, this moment of reflection on your shadow side is the most important one.

WISDOM: Understanding yourself is the key to lasting change.

Answer these questions:

What inside of you tends to get in the way of creating those uplifting moments or feelings? Is it self-doubt, procrastination, or an unhealthy habit? Recognizing these barriers is the first step to overcoming them. List them out. Face your dark side that lurks in the subconscious mind. By bringing a light to it, it can no longer play in the shadows without your awareness.

Now for the resersal:

What mindset or habits will help you invite more of these feelings into 2025?
Focus on small, sustainable shifts that align with the life you want to create.

Now here’s the pivot. You’ve reflected on what made you feel most and least fulfilled or alive in 2024. You’ve found the commonalities between the positive and negative moments. And now it’s time to take that and turn it into intentionality for 2025.

We have the power to choose and create the moments that make us feel alive and fulfilled. And it all starts with re-creating those feelings that nurture us to the core and make us feel a sense of vitality.

Instead of setting arbitrary goals, focus on how you want to feel this year and how you create moments and circumstances that allow you to augment those feelings:

Now, let’s create the 2025 of your DREAMS!

What types of moments or feelings do you want to invite into 2025?
Write them down as intentions—not goals. For example, “I want to invite more love into my heart and do things from a loving place.” Create that intention, and then it’s easy to find daily actions and ways to fulfill on that feeling.

Who do you want to become by the end of 2025?

This is the most important step. By creating a vision of the person you want to become, you are laying down the roadmap to where you want to go by the end of this year.

WISDOM: You can’t become that which you cannot envision. So start seeing yourself already where you want to be.

Want to create intentions so powerful that you won’t break them?

Want an internal barometer of where you are that will keep you on track?

Want to learn a system that I personally use to guide every single year since 2018?

To help you take this reflection deeper, I’m excited to share this free super quick pdf handbook ⸺ 4Cs: Creating Powerful Intentions. This guide is designed to help you finally set intentions you won’t break—even if you’ve struggled to stick with them in the past.

What makes this approach different? It’s all about the 4Cs, a simple yet transformative framework that you’ll discover when you download the guide. Inside, you’ll learn how to set meaningful, powerful intentions that align with who you truly are, making them easier to stick to and more impactful in your life.

So, ditch those New Year’s Resolutions! Instead, create powerful intentions that will serve a guiding North Star for your upcoming year. Trust me. It works!

Don’t wait— download your free copy today and start creating a year that feels aligned, empowering, and joyful from the inside out.