As 2025 begins, I like to take a deep breath and reflect on the past year—celebrating the victories, big and small, while acknowledging the lessons that came with the challenges. This past year was a journey for me through a difficult divorce. While it was far from easy, it made me stronger and more compassionate. This experience has deepened my ability to support my clients, especially those facing personal crises. My own mantra, “It’s all good, even the bad stuff,” has guided me through the darkest days, reminding me that there is always something to be gained from every experience.
Below, I share with you 25 simple steps to help make 2025 your happiest year yet. These steps include practical tips, rituals for reflection, and some surprising, counterintuitive ideas that may change the way you think about happiness. Light a candle, settle in, and let’s explore how you can create a joyful, abundant life in 2025.
1. Celebrate Your Accomplishments—Big and Small
At the end of every year, I take the time to write down all of my accomplishments and review them, one by one. Lighting a candle, I reflect on everything I overcame and achieved. Whether you’re celebrating a big milestone or simply making it through a tough time, it all counts. This ritual isn’t about boasting—it’s about acknowledging your own strength and inviting more of the good stuff in. When you celebrate, you raise your own vibration, which is key for happiness.
2. Embrace a Goal-Less Year
This might sound strange coming from a life coach, but consider making 2025 a “goal-less” year. Instead of focusing on a list of objectives, work on becoming simply irresistible to your desires. Make it your aim to become so fulfilled, vibrant, and alive that what you want naturally finds its way to you. Happiness comes not from chasing goals, but from becoming the type of person who effortlessly attracts the things they desire.
3. Cultivate Your Own Happiness
Shawn Achor, author of “The Happiness Advantage”, explains how cultivating a positive mindset fuels success rather than the other way around. By focusing on gratitude and positivity, you create a mindset that naturally brings about more opportunities, greater resilience, and improved happiness. His book is filled with research-backed insights on how gratitude and positivity can be your secret weapon for a happier and more successful life.
Gratitude is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to improve your happiness. Write down three things you’re grateful for each day. It can be as simple as a beautiful sunrise, a supportive friend, or a moment of laughter. Practicing gratitude helps you focus on what’s good in your life, which in turn attracts even more of that goodness.
4. Visualize Your Wishes—Fairy Godmother Style
At the beginning of each new year, I like to imagine my own fairy godmother is hovering nearby, waiting for my list of wishes. I write down everything I want—some of it practical, some utterly fantastical. And every year, I am amazed by how many of these wishes come true, seemingly without effort. Visualization isn’t just about hoping; it’s about connecting deeply with what you want, imagining it as already yours, and then letting the universe do its part. Let 2025 be the year that your wishes come true!
5. Adopt the Mantra: “It’s All Good, Even the Bad Stuff”
This mantra has carried me through my toughest days, and it can do the same for you. Life doesn’t always go according to plan. But if you believe that even the bad stuff serves a purpose, you can approach challenges with resilience and hope. When you reframe difficult situations, you allow yourself to grow through them rather than get stuck in them.
6. Declutter Your Space
Clutter creates mental and emotional noise, making it hard to be truly happy. Spend some time at the beginning of 2025 decluttering your home and workspace. By getting rid of what no longer serves you, you make space for what does. The physical act of decluttering has a symbolic resonance—you’re telling the universe you’re ready for new, better things to come in.
7. Reflect, Don’t Rush
It’s tempting to jump into New Year’s resolutions headfirst, but I encourage you to pause and reflect. Before making any commitments, spend time thinking about what you truly want. Reflection is a powerful tool for happiness because it helps you align your actions with your values. Take a walk, journal, meditate—do whatever helps you gain clarity.
8. New Year’s Evolution, Not Resolution
Instead of making resolutions that often fizzle out, try a different approach: New Year’s Evolution. Focus on tiny habits that will lead to lasting change in 2025. Happiness isn’t about one big resolution; it’s about evolving in small, consistent ways. Our New Year’s Evolution Course is a perfect guide to help you make these small, positive shifts in your daily life.
9. Make Time for Play
It’s easy to think that play is only for kids, but adults need it too! Whether it’s trying a new hobby, dancing, or doing something silly, incorporating play into your routine boosts happiness and creativity. Play releases endorphins and helps you connect with the joy of the present moment.
10. Take Up a New Skill or Hobby
Learning something new is a fantastic way to build confidence and add more excitement to your life. Whether it’s cooking, pottery, or learning a new language, the process of mastering something new keeps life fresh and engaging.
11. Be an Imperfect Perfectionist
Yes, this sounds contradictory, but hear me out! Aim for progress, not perfection. Give yourself permission to be a little imperfect—whether it’s in your career, relationships, or even your New Year’s goals. Happiness lies in the joy of doing, not in the pursuit of perfection.
12. Schedule Your Happiness
Plan activities that bring you joy and make them non-negotiable parts of your schedule. Block out time for a favorite hobby, a relaxing bath, or a walk in nature. When you schedule happiness, you’re more likely to make it happen.
13. Breathe in Calm, Exhale Stress
A few moments of conscious breathing can do wonders for your emotional well-being. Close your eyes, breathe in deeply for four counts, hold for four counts, then exhale slowly. Just five minutes of this can help you feel calmer, clearer, and, ultimately, happier.
14. Surround Yourself with Happy People
Happiness is contagious. Spend more time with friends who uplift you and less with those who drain you. The energy of the people you surround yourself with has a huge impact on your well-being.
15. Give Compliments—Freely and Genuinely
Take the time to compliment those around you—friends, coworkers, even strangers. It boosts their happiness and creates a positive ripple effect that can lift your own mood too.
16. Walk Away from Toxic Situations
One of the most empowering actions you can take to achieve happiness is to walk away from relationships or situations that drag you down. It’s not always easy, but removing toxicity from your life clears space for positivity and joy to thrive.
17. Trust the Process—Relax Your Grip
Detachment is a core part of happiness and manifestation. Once you have set your intentions, relax your grip on the outcome. Trust that things are working out in the best possible way, even if it doesn’t seem that way right now.
18. Prioritize Sleep
A good night’s sleep is essential for emotional health. Without it, our moods dip, and it’s harder to stay positive. One key tip from “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker is the importance of maintaining a consistent sleep schedule. Dr. Walker emphasizes that going to bed and waking up at the same time every day—even on weekends—helps regulate your body’s internal clock or circadian rhythm. Consistency is crucial for improving sleep quality, as it allows your body to establish a natural routine. This makes it easier to fall asleep quickly and wake up feeling refreshed. My goal this year is a regular 10pm bedtime to maximize my REM sleep.
19. Declutter Your Social Media
Consider “unfollowing” accounts that make you feel less-than or anxious. Fill your feed with positivity—people who uplift you and bring a smile to your face.
20. Reconnect with Old Friends
Happiness is created by connecting to dear friends and loved ones. Take time to reach out to old friends—people who have shared history with you. Reconnecting can fill you with nostalgia and happiness that few other things can.
21. Eat Foods That Boost Your Mood
Some foods can boost your mood naturally. Include more foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like wild salmon, or those packed with B vitamins, like leafy greens and eggs.
22. Mindful Happiness
Instead of trying to do ten things at once, focus fully on one thing that makes you happy. Whether it’s savoring a meal or enjoying a book, being fully present enhances the pleasure. (Hint: put your phone away so you can be fully present.)
23. Laugh More—Even at Yourself
Laughter releases stress, improves mood, and brings joy. Watch a comedy, share a joke, and don’t take yourself too seriously. Embrace the incredible lightness of being.
24. Say “No” to Say “Yes”
Learn to say “no” to requests or commitments that drain you. Each “no” creates space for a genuine “yes” to something that truly brings you joy.
25. Choose to Be Happy Now
Happiness isn’t a future destination. It’s a choice we make every day. Make a conscious decision each morning to embrace happiness. Look for it, create it, and be open to it—even in unexpected ways.
Abraham Lincoln was right when he said: “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Happy New Year! Make 2025 the Happiest Yet
Happiness isn’t about perfection or ticking off a to-do list—it’s about becoming the best version of yourself so that what you truly want comes to you effortlessly. As you begin the new year, I invite you to join our New Year’s Evolution Course to explore how tiny habits can lead to big changes.
Here’s to a year filled with joy, growth, and dreams fulfilled. Wishing you all the happiness your heart can hold in 2025!
Talane
You can find The Happiness Advantage on Amazon for more on how happiness can be your secret weapon for success.
