Can we talk about how it’s 2025? I’m not sure where 2024 went, but at this point, it’s water under the bridge and also so two weeks ago.
I love a new year! The refreshing of the spirit. The planning for what’s to come. The out with the old and in with the new. Ahhh, it’s healing! I’ve been thinking about what 2025 has in store, and what’s, in fact, all sold out.
I find it cathartic to think about what we’re taking with us in 2025 and what we’re leaving in the past. So with that, I’m sharing my 2025 ins & outs.
Some of these are for me, but some of these are for you. You’re welcome for the unso[lisa]ted advice.
In: Flexible Goals / Out: New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s Resolutions are so 2012. When’s the last time a single person has set a resolution (ie. unreasonable goal) at the beginning of the year and seen it through?
The answer is a resounding NEVER because it’s impossible. New Year’s Resolutions set us up for failure for many reasons including:
We feel like we need to pick something big because it’s our ONE thing
We overcommit, because who doesn’t have the best of intentions on the first day of the year
It’s winter, which is just a bad time to do most things, let alone start a new thing
We’re also doing dry January…
And that’s why New Year’s Resolutions are out, and flexible goals are in. This year I’ve set three goals: one health, one fun, and one work. And I’ve told myself these may be my goals for the whole year if that’s the way the cookie crumbles, or maybe if the cookie is feeling extra crumbly, they’ll be quarterly goals and I’ll set more as the year goes on.
Point being, in 2025, we’re setting realistic, achievable goals and then we’re realistically achieving them. Done and done.
In: Concerts with seating and accessible beverage service / Out: Concerts where we’re engulfed by the crowd
Have a seat? Don’t mind if I do. Promptly and with gumption. I will sigh both when I sit down and when I stand up.
In 2025, we’re going to concerts where we have seats. Does that mean I won’t stand the entire time the headliner is on? No. But it does mean I will be seated before the music begins, between acts, and when that slow song comes on. Also possibly if my feet start hurting or I need to eat a snack.
If the concert venue requires me to abandon my entire group in the crowd never to be reunited simply because I want to grab a drink or swing by the bathroom, it’s a no. Gone are the days of me forming a human chain with 6 other girls just to return to our very mediocre spot. Gone are the days of puffing up in the crowd, and fighting off an aggressively dancy drunk person just to hold a friend’s spot. Gone are the days of being ingested by the crowd. And as someone who is barely over 5 feet tall, I do mean this literally. Old wives’ tales have it that I once entered a crowded music venue and never came out.
And if by some unspeakable circumstances I do end up in a crowd-consuming situation, you better believe that I will be leaving the premises the moment I need to pee, because there’s simply no other option.
In: Tater Tots / Out: French Fries
This is a given, right?
Tots are superior in every way.
They’re the perfect amount of potato and the perfect amount of crisp. They’re bite-sized and well-seasoned. And they’re appropriate at any time of day or night.
I’ve honestly just been using french fries as a vehicle for sauce all along. Will I be completely leaving them behind in 2024? No, because it’s always potato or bust.
But in the battle of the spuds, tots win.
In: Planning Downtime Into the Week / Out: Overcommitting to Plans
In 2025, we’re embracing that doing nothing is a plan.
Let me say that again for the people in the back. Doing nothing is a plan!!
Reading a book at home alone is a plan. Drinking some tea and sitting is a plan. Working on a puzzle is a plan. I will no longer be shamed for saying no to plans simply because I have planned time to not have plans.
Overcommitting and then being stressed out and then not really having fun and then being too tired to have awake downtime and then waking up all groggy and exhausted and then doing it all over again is so out.
In: Getting Rid of All Your Stuff / Out: Stuff
That’s right, 2025 is the year of getting rid of all our stuff. Do you have nooks and crannies full of stuff? Does the stuff exist simply to fill said nook and said cranny? It’s time to get rid of that stuff.
Here’s my completely objective list of things that have got to go:
Anything that’s dusty
Anything that requires you to get on all fours just to take out of storage
Anything frivolous items that comes out less than once per year
Anything that you got but never used, and then hung onto because you felt bad that you got it and never used it
Anything your partner tucked away and completely forgot about
Anything that is never used because you don’t know how or don’t want to clean it
Anything that doesn’t have a permanent home and gets moved around from room to room depending on where you have the space
Obviously, that’s not exhaustive. If you need a more robust list, let me know. Or better yet, let me get rid of your things. But I will not be answering questions, accepting feedback, or hearing oral arguments.
In 2025, we’re keeping the things we use, freeing ourselves of the things we store, and not buying new stuff to replace the old stuff.
Simplicity is the name of the game y’all. Do you feel like you’re constantly cleaning? Have less stuff.
Do you feel like you have no room to put things? Get rid of your stuff.
Are you moving? Leave behind the stuff.
It could not be clearer.
In: Drinking Water Constantly / Out: Crippling Dehydration
How often do you drink water?
This question is funny because it almost shouldn’t be a question. The answer should be yes and all the time.
We’re leaving dehydration dizzy spells behind in 2024 and welcoming a world where our skin snaps back immediately because our body has been restored to the proper percentage of water. (To be clear, I have no idea if this is how skin or hydration works, but it feels right, so I’m going with it.)
Say it with me: “We’re 60% water and it’s about damn time we start acting like it!”
I really hope you said it with me.
In: Buffer Days After Vacations / Out: Using PTO for Travel Only
In 2025, we’re embracing that every moment of PTO does NOT need to be used to travel. PTO can be used to take yourself out to breakfast and go shopping at a time of the day when no one else goes shopping.
Or to clean out the aforementioned cluttered nooks and crannies. Or to sit on the couch and rot. Or as a buffer day after you get back from vacation.
Take it from me, do yourself the favor and take the extra day of PTO. Unpack, do your laundry, and get groceries, instead of turning into a goblin and setting yourself on a trajectory of self destruction because you did not give yourself the time you needed to become a person again.
That’s our mantra in 2025.
In: Simmer Pots / Out: Air Freshener
Imagine this. You’re sitting and reading a book and thinking about how you turned down plans for this. You’re drinking ample amounts of water. Water out the wazoo as they say. Your house is perfectly clean because all the things that were holding you down have found new homes. And then you catch a whiff of a delicious smell…orange, vanilla, cinnamon sticks, rosemary. In the background you hear a relaxing babbling brook. You sigh with content, and continue reading your book.
All it takes is simmering a nice pot of water and aromatics on the stove, and this could all be yours.
In: Not stressing out about things until no sooner than two weeks before said thing / Out: Stressing out about things for months in advance
We are no longer spending weeks or months having anxiety about an upcoming plan. A party where you won’t know anyone, a dinner you begrudgingly have to host, a potential winter storm during a potential plan that may not even come to fruition.
In 2025, we don’t have anxiety about plans for weeks leading up to it. Instead, we have anxiety about how many more days until we can start having anxiety.
This is good advice. I am the pinnacle of well-adjusted.
In: Writing More Blogs / Out: Overthinking Blog Topics
Last year, I only wrote 3 blogs. That’s my worst year yet, by far! But alas, I’m not in the business of putting myself down. I’m in the business of giving unsolicited advice to unwilling participants. So in the spirit of bullying someone into listening, I’m publicly telling myself that this year, we’re not overthinking our blogs! We’re writing what pops into our mind (sorry, y’all! That sounds like a weird time.)
I truly cannot tell you what’s in store, but I hope my 8.5 readers don’t mind.
And a few honorable mentions:
No, I will not be providing additional context.
In: Crop tops / Out: Other tops
In: Hotels / Out: Airbnbs
In: Candid photos / Out: Posed “candid” photos
In: Taking care of your health / Out: Withering away
In: Winter walks / Out: Complaining about the weather
In: Washing your hair when you need to wash your hair / Out: Trying to go a certain number of days without washing your hair
Cheers + New Years,
Lisa
Comments