As we close in on January, I’m ready to tackle my 2025 goals for happiness by working to integrate “spice” into my life and habits! Please indulge me and imagine “spice” being in air quotes because that’s the intention here, okay? It’s my one-word theme word this year. Kindly allow me to explain further!

Choosing a theme word is the finishing touch with goal setting. It’s all about selecting a word or short phrase that captures what you want to accomplish. I like to pick a word with multiple meanings or symbols that helps keep me motivated and focused. With that said, the spice of life is all about adding excitement or variety to your journey to make it happier and more enjoyable. That’s my goal this year!

Thanks to inspiration from Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, I’ve adopted her one-word theme and 25 for 25 tactics the past few years and they’ve helped improve my life. They’re fun, practical and keep me on track. I also highly recommend tuning into Happier with Gretchen Rubin, the podcast she co-hosts with her sister Elizabeth Craft, a TV series producer, screenwriter, and executive producer, to learn more about setting happiness goals.

Make Your Year Even Better

I’ve ditched the idea of New Year’s resolutions in favor of deliberately plotting out my priorities and committing to completing them. In this post, I’ll share the strategies that help me reach my happiness goals, including my one-word theme, 25 for 25 and daily journaling for accountability.

Life can get busy, as we all know, so cut yourself some slack if you haven’t jumped into your 2025 goals yet. There’s still plenty of time ahead. Personally, though, I’ve got my January goals in motion. Literally.

About Figuring Out Your Word

I carry my word of the year close to my heart like a badge of honor because it makes a difference on my overall outlook. Believe me, it works.

Last year, my word was “dandelion,” chosen to symbolize being “lighter.” I wanted a visual representation of freedom from heaviness, and the image of a dandelion seed head blowing in the wind felt perfect. I even hung a canvas print in my bathroom, so every morning I’d be reminded of my goal to stay lighter in both mind and body.

Two years ago, my word was “stride.” I picked it because I wanted to walk more, face challenges with ease, pace myself while pursuing my goals and embrace the outdoors to feel more connected to nature.

Add ‘Spice’ to 2025 Goals

I’m ready to shake things up a bit. I love my life, but I’m looking to add a little extra zest to make it even better. It doesn’t mean I need a trip to Tahiti (though that would be fun someday!), but rather it’s about finding ways to add flavor to the day-to-day experience of my routine.

My hubby sometimes resists trying new things which helped inspire me to choose “spice” as my 2025 word. Why? Because all too often, he protests change, affectionately earning himself the nickname “roadblock.” He’s a firm believer in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy. This year, I’m determined to shake things up, add some spice to our lives and keep things interesting by expanding our horizons. Here’s how I plan to sprinkle spice into my goals this year:  

Wellness: Thanks to a recommendation from my sister-in-law, I signed up for a January online workout challenge with Fit Fiona J to spice up my routine. It includes workouts that mix yoga with bootcamp-style moves and stretches. In addition, you earn daily points for program workouts, 30 minutes of movement, nutritional challenges and drinking water. So far, so good. I’m really enjoying it!

Healthy cooking: I need to spice up my repertoire of healthy recipes. My list includes aromatic curries (see chicken tikka masala recipe), healthy-grain scones and new quick go-to weeknight recipes.

Spices in general: As a self-proclaimed spice queen, I’m always experimenting with new dry rubs (see my recipes), spice blends and pestos (my fave), made from herbs and vegetables from my garden. Did you know that many spices have health benefits?

Travel: I’m adding new experiences to our travel itineraries, even when we visit our favorite spots. A little research goes a long way and makes each trip feel fresh.

Marriage: I’ll be spicing things up at home to change some routines we’ve fallen into. Just a few simple changes, like taking turns picking music while we make dinner instead of watching TV, are already bringing in new energy.

Sleep: Regular quality sleep continues to be a struggle for me, so I’m spicing up my evening habits in a more mellow way. Reading before bed instead of watching TV is helping, and I’ve added a sound machine playing waves in the background. I’m focused on improving my sleep with new habits and techniques.

Reading for pleasure: I’ve committed to reading more, at least 12 books a year. I’ve already read my first book (yay!) and loaded up my Kindle! Doesn’t sound like much but I was only reading a handful of books each year when on vacation. That just isn’t acceptable since I was always an avid reader and want to get that back. I’m hoping to increase this goal halfway through the year.

Last Year’s 24 for 24 List

I’m pleased to report that I’ve completed 15 out of 24 items on my 2024 list. It’s been a year of enriching my life by checking off top priorities, from fun to practical. Here are some of my successes:

Losing weight: For the first time in years, I was able to actually lose more than a few pounds thanks to the DASH diet and cutting back on my vino! I lost about 20 pounds. I can’t lie, I’m now working on losing the holiday creepage, but once that’s gone, I plan to lose even more weight for this year! I highly recommend trying non-alcoholic wine (to make spritzers) and beers (I’m a fan of IPAs!).

Travel: We did it; we finally took our bucket-list trip to Calabria, Italy! This has been something my BFF and I have been talking about for decades. Definitely worth the wait. Plus, I was fortunate to complete other travel goals to our favorite island in the Caribbean, St. Maarten/St. Martin (see post); a new local getaway, Rockport, Massachusetts; family weekend to Cape Cod and girls’ weekends.

Feeling lighter of mind: I worked on this through the year, and truly feel better. I added this to this year’s list just to keep the mojo going!

Completing my will: I kept procrastinating on this one and was quite pleased and relieved to finally get it completed.

Don’t Expect to Complete Entire List

I’m not too concerned I didn’t do everything on my list, but rather, quite happy with what I did! Many of the items I didn’t check off my list were left undone due to limited free time, but for a good reason. My Dad faced some health issues, so spending time with him became a top priority. I didn’t complete:

Blog: Four items focused on Literally Laurie, which I sadly neglected last year. This year, my blog goal is figuring out a manageable posting cadence. I feel guilty that my blog took a backseat when I had such high aspirations to kick off the year. I’m feeling a bit rusty, too, especially with blog and social media changes due to updates.

Home: Also due to time constraints over the summer, four home projects were added back to the list this year. Number one is purging and organizing our basement utility room, a huge but necessary project!

Why Commit to Journaling

My good friend, Sue, gifted me with a “memory” journal where I could enter a sentence or short paragraph daily over a five-year period. While I enjoyed this practice, it inspired me to capture more, which led me to Commit30. This year, as I opened my fourth tracker, I was excited to start 2025. The tracker provides a foundation with 12 monthly goal categories, helping me break down my goals into actionable steps.

Journaling keeps me accountable, forcing me to face what I’m really doing with my time. It’s not just about tracking the day; it’s about capturing moments of joy, gratitude and progress. Every entry is a reminder to stay aligned with my goals and confront whether I’m truly living up to my potential.

Remember, you don’t need to buy a tracker to manage your goals. You can simply identify the areas you want to focus on and track them in a way that suits you. Perhaps that’s in a notebook, spreadsheet or Word document. While Commit30 works for me, I still need to customize it for me by adjusting several categories each year to better align with my intentions.

Others’ Theme Words for Inspiration

Here’s some one-theme words close friends and family chose this year. I’ll add to this list as readers and others share their 2025 words!

• Savor
• Wildflower
• Grateful
• Adventure
• Optimistic
• Voice
• Grace
• Balance
• Hope

Read Related Posts on Goal Planning

Here are some other posts on planning and executing goals:

• ‘Lighten Up’ Goal Now Activated: DASH Diet and Other To-Dos
• Shape Your 2024 Goals Into Happiness and Success
• New Year Even Better You: Prioritize Your 2023 Goals

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