Some years, you need more than resolutions or checklists—you need a plan that feels like a promise to yourself, one you’re excited to keep.
Thinking about 2025, I keep returning to one question: What will I excel at, and where will that skill be most valuable?
With my clients, it’s clear that being an expert in something particular and delivering results is essential. Having expert knowledge in a specific industry allows you to be a puzzle piece that fits seamlessly into many companies. You plug yourself in.
So, how can I plug myself into more companies, and in what capacity?
What skills can I learn to bring even more value to my clients, positioning myself as someone they’ll want to take along for the long haul? At the same time, how do I ensure I’m growing, too?
These questions keep circling back as I think about what’s next.
Every year, as December winds down and the world collectively turns its eyes to the fresh start of January, I choose a word. This isn’t just a word I toss around lightly; it’s an anchor, a theme, a lens through which I view the next 365 days.
The tradition started years ago when I realized resolutions didn’t stick for me. They felt rigid, like rules I’d inevitably break. A word, though, had flexibility. It gave me direction because the year had a theme.
This year, my word is excel. It’s a call to rise above, perform, and refine my craft. In both a literal and metaphorical sense, excel also points me toward a specific skill set—Google Sheets.
Turning My Word of the Year into a Roadmap
On January 2nd, after a solid night’s sleep and my first cup of coffee, I was about to start listening to an audiobook—one I’d already tried and failed to get through several times. Suddenly, it dawned on me: writing down my word of the year on the same doodle sheet of paper where I’d been randomly jotting down goals wasn’t enough.
I needed something more—a personal vision and roadmap for 2025. Something tangible and drawn out so I could see how everything connects and watch the progress unfold over the year.
Armed with my colored ballpoint pens—a gift from my best friend who knows I live for stationery—I grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote down my five categories: Finances, Personal, Business, Career, and Experiences, each with its own corner of the sheet with three well-thought-out goals under their respective categories.
I forgot how much fun it is to make my notes pretty. Drawing little emojis in the category headlines, shading in titles, and choosing colors for each section brought a playful energy to the process and made it uniquely mine.
At the center of the page, I labeled a section "BEYOND" to represent what I’m working toward in the next five years. This central piece ties everything together so that the year’s goals connect to the larger picture.
Not gonna lie, I created something I’m excited about.
It’s taped to the wall next to my desk, where I spend most of my day. Every time I glance at it, I feel a surge of pride.
It’s a daily visual cue that I have things to do and places to go all distilled into one simple, practical sheet.
The following morning, I was still thinking about my artwork and realized I needed to reverse-engineer these goals and break them down into quarters.
Starting with the first quarter makes it easier for me to map out when I’ll begin tackling particular goals. I prefer to plan one quarter at a time, letting the rhythm of each previous quarter guide what fits best from my overall yearly plan.
Once again, I grabbed my trusty ball-pointed colored pens and went back to the drawing board—literally.
Using my horizontal notepad, perfect for timelines, I started listing activities associated with the main goals. They’re more like mini-goals to the main goals—easier to achieve in smaller increments and giving off "completely doable" vibes.
The finer details, like when and how, will come during my weekly planning, where I’ll block out time in my calendar.
In the past, I’d done something similar—writing out my plans and timelines—but they were always cluttered with waaay too many goals that felt more like "I shoulds" than true priorities.
Most of them didn’t get done. Plus, they weren’t artfully crafted; they were plain Jane. Just endless to-do lists that rolled over from one day to the next, eventually piling up into something too overwhelming to even chip away at.
This year, though, it feels like I’ve truly stepped into my own. My colorful map is more than just a plan—it’s a contract I’ve signed with myself.
I’m following my own directions. Will there be detours? Probably—aren’t there always? But those detours will lead to lessons, often disguised as roadblocks, forcing me to take another route.
Who and What will I encounter along the way? That’s the adventure of it all.
Charting the Course Ahead
Looking beyond my current role as an executive assistant, I keep asking: what is the next step in this role?
From my insider’s view as an executive assistant, I am potentially building my pathway towards Operations.
It’s a field that demands people who love details and coordination—people who ensure that teams, workflows, and procedures function seamlessly across the board.
I can see this being the in-between level to the position that follows.
I know that I want the end goal to be a strategic partner. To excel in this space—to become a strategic partner to my clients and sit as one of their right-hand people—I need to understand numbers and data, and be able to visually tell a story through this data to influence decision-making.
2025 is about excelling.
It’s about committing to my plan and finding joy in the details. It’s about learning new skills, becoming invaluable, and stepping into the role of an intrapreneur.
Will there be challenges? Absolutely. But, you know what? Life is in session.
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