January 2025, at the beginning of the year. Everyone has expectations of achieving their life’s goals—whether it’s losing weight, getting promoted, going to bed earlier, or even a smaller target like serving others once a month. Whatever your goal may be, let Jay Shetty share his proven six-step method to help you and me successfully check off our items on the list this year.
Quickly Check
STEP ❶ : Set Goals (Advised 1 Personal / 1 Professional)
We all have a bucket of goals—whether they relate to our careers, relationships, personal achievements, or happiness. We want to achieve them as quickly as possible so that we can experience the triumph we’ve always imagined. But in reality, setting too many goals often makes them unattainable and overwhelming.
So, how do we set goals that we can actually achieve?
Jay shared the famous 80/20 rule, originally introduced by management consultant Joseph M. Juran. The principle is to focus on the 20% of actions that create 80% of the value. Jay even provided an example to illustrate this.
If going to bed early is the 20%. When you go to bed early, you feel rested. When you wake up, you feel focused and energized. You eat less junk food because your body’s not craving sugars to give you energy because you have energy. It’s affecting 80% of your life.
So, back to setting goals for 2025. We don’t have endless energy, so we have to focus on that crucial 20% of our life which leads to 80% of our wins. For this year, try setting ONLY one personal goal and one professional goal.
So far, you might think that setting ONLY 2 goals is ridiculously few and even undermines your abilities. But for me, I couldn’t believe how much this advice touched me right at the very beginning of my journey.
Since December 2024, I started my English study plan, began marathon training, and developed a habit of recording my notes and blog posts—half of which were actually preparations for my next career development. In the very beginning, I felt energized and enthusiastic. But soon, I started feeling that I had too many things to do and too little time. Even though I had tried to narrow my focus to just four main directions, they still took up all my time and energy every day.
Jay’s words remind me to reassess and redefine what is truly key and most influential for me. I also recalled the phrase “less is more,” which inspired me to give the “2 goals ONLY” rule a try—and I’m currently following it. At the end of the article, I will share with you how I use Jay’s method to build and pursue my new plan.
＊Regarding how to choose the right goals, here is another episode from Jay for your reference.
STEP ❷ : Recognize The Stage of The Goal
After setting goals, what can we do to achieve them? It’s not enough to simply write them down, put them on hold, and expect them to be automatically completed by the end of the year.
In order to meet our targets, we must acquire the necessary new skills to grow our abilities. But before planning our strategy, we have to recall the core mindset from the first step—our time and energy for 2025 are limited. I really appreciate this quote from Bill Gates: “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”
To address this challenge, Jay proposed a 5 STAGES framework to help us schedule our actions, target our 2025 goals, and build a healthy mindset along the way.
What’s the 5 STAGES idea?
Jay believes that every achievement must go through the following five stages:
Learn ➜ Experiment ➜ Perform ➜ Struggle ➜ Thrive
If we want to succeed but have never learned, experimented, performed, or struggled, we can’t suddenly thrive.
This doesn’t mean we have to remain in one stage for the entire year—instead, it’s simply a framework to help us understand where we currently stand and determine the most reasonable and feasible actions.
For example, I’d like to get a promotion at work and become a leader on my team. What stage is this goal in for me in 2025? If I set my goal at the “thriving” stage—imagining myself as a competent leader—while I actually know very little about leadership, the expectation of success is likely to eventually disappoint me. Without an accurate understanding of the goal’s stage, it’s difficult to have realistic expectations and take feasible actions. In the end, our confidence and energy may be drained by an unrealistic plan, and we might mistakenly blame our lack of ability.
Some people may think, “No way—I’ve already had success and truly believe I can progress from learning to thriving within a year.” Sure, that’s definitely possible. But life is a lot like running a marathon: we must keep practicing, adjust along the way, move at a reasonable pace, and avoid indulging in momentary pleasures. By doing so, we can reach our long-term destination faster than we imagine. The most important thing is to feel self-confident rather than doubt our capabilities or merely “truly believe” in the possibility of meeting our goals.
Ask yourself:
“What stage am I at?” and “What is this season like?”
If you know it’s winter and it’s going to rain, you don’t go expecting sunshine. When it rains, you’re not disappointed; if the sun comes out, it’s a bonus.—Jay Jetty
So if you enter this year expecting it to be a learning year, you’re not expecting to win an award. It’s like expecting rain. And when you expect rain, you flow with it—you have your umbrella, your boots, and all the gear you need to survive.
STEP ➌ : Develop the Skills Your Goals Require
Once we have a clear understanding of where we currently stand, we can begin developing the skills that will drive our success. This step is straightforward—it doesn’t involve any complicated technicalities, but it is crucial.
For example, if you want to launch a podcast, YouTube channel, or blog, start by researching the subject and learning from the knowledge and experiences shared by accomplished professionals. If you want to become an expert in a certain field, read books, engage in conversations with professionals, and do whatever it takes to immerse yourself in learning. This is how you can make progress toward every goal you set.
This is what makes 2025 different—not wishful thinking, but action that drives growth.
－Albert Einstein
STEP ❹ : Small Changes, Big Priority!
I think this step is closely related to the 80/20 rule mentioned earlier—it’s all about recognizing what truly matters and prioritizing it.
The key point Jay shared is to make habits and small changes easier for us to maintain. Even if something is important, executing it consistently shouldn’t feel like a challenge.
However, Jay didn’t go into detail about quitting bad habits, or creating and maintaining new ones. If you’re interested in this topic, here are my reading notes on the well-known book Atomic Habits, which offer some useful ideas you can refer to at any time. (Since this article is in Chinese, please use a web translation tool if needed.)
STEP ❺ : Measure Progress, Adjust Along The Way
Once our goals are set, our stages reviewed, our skills developed, and our priorities clear, we sometimes still wonder if we’re truly staying on track. That’s why measuring progress is so important—it lets us check our advancement and adjust our actions to ensure they align with our plans.
Jay emphasized that measurement should be carried out consistently—from daily to yearly—but unfortunately, he didn’t provide a specific method to gauge our progress in this episode.
I initially considered using the famous “reality therapy” approach, which employs a proven structure: W (Wants), D (Doing), E (Evaluation), and P (Plan) to measure and track progress over the long term, aiming to improve aspects of survival, freedom, fun, power, and love/belonging. It’s quite similar to our process of pursuing achievement.
I remembered trying this method a few months back, only to find it ineffective.
Why did it fail?
After reviewing my experience, I concluded that if you’re not someone who pays great attention to detail, you should avoid using too many or overly complex forms. Filling out such forms can drain your patience and enthusiasm for daily tracking—especially when the process feels overly standardized. However, if you’re detail-oriented, I still recommend giving the WDEP structure a try. Ultimately, the key is to make things simple so that consistency comes naturally.
Because of these insights, I spent some time experimenting to develop my own method for this step. It has helped me periodically adjust my actions to stay aligned with my goals—especially when I wasn’t aware that I had gotten off track.
In summary, finding a measurement system that works for you is essential. I plan to keep exploring and trying new methods to improve my approach, and if I discover any more efficient techniques worth trying, I’ll be sure to update you here.
STEP ❻ : 3C Breakthrough Bottleneck
At the end, Jay said that if we’ve completed all the previous steps but still feel stagnant, you might be lacking in these three things—coaching, consistency, and community.
What are the 3C?
| Coaching | Needing someone who’s been there, done that, who’s 3 steps ahead of you, who’s done the thing before and knows how to guide you, and can set you up for success. |
| Consistency | You might not have a consistent calendar of learning. You might not be learning often enough or deeply enough. |
| Community | No matter how much you think you’re in control, energy is contagious. You will become like the people around you. |
As Jay always says, “Figure out what is holding you back.” Personally, I prefer incorporating these three essentials earlier in the process (as in Step 3) rather than waiting until the end. For me, having access to a mentor, a consistent routine, and a supportive community are key resources that empower me to reach my goals. You might find that integrating these elements sooner can make your journey smoother and more effective.
In closing,
I’d like to share my favorite mindset from this episode. But first, a big thank you to Jay for creating such amazing, useful, and inspiring content as always.
5 Stages Evaluation Method
The 5 Stages Evaluation Method has truly stuck with me. It serves as a wake-up call to re-examine my life, empowering me even in the face of failure, criticism, or self-doubt. It also helps me avoid overestimating what I can do and expecting immediate results.
This won’t hinder me to think big and do big, instead, it allows me to pace in fit-me speed to run longer.
InOutRecord－6 Steps Thinking Grid
Now that we’ve explored these 6 steps to set goals, build skills, and overcome obstacles, it’s time to put these insights into practice. To help you reflect on your progress and identify areas for improvement, I’ve created the InOutRecord – 6 Steps Thinking Grid. This practical tool will guide you in evaluating each step, so you can see where you’re excelling and where you might need to adjust your approach.
| 2025 Blueprint（press to download the file) | |||
| # | Execution Detail | Goal | |
| STEP ① | Choose 1 personal and 1 professional goal for this year ONLY. | Personal | Professional |
| STEP ② | Determine your goal’s current stage: Learn ➠ Experiment ➠ Perform ➠ Struggle ➠ Thrive | ||
| STEP ③ | Identify the skills and areas for personal growth needed to achieve your goal. | ||
| STEP ④ | Pinpoint small but important changes that will support your goal. | ||
| STEP ⑤ | Measure what matters. | ||
| STEP ⑥ | If results aren’t forthcoming after the above 5 steps, check for these three essentials: ● Coaching ● Consistency ● Community | ||
Take a few minutes to fill out the grid, and let it be your roadmap for the year ahead. Your honest self-assessment will help you stay focused and continuously improve. I’d love to hear your feedback or any insights you gain from this exercise.
Remember, setting goals is just the beginning—consistent action and regular adjustments are key to long-term success. With that in mind, take a few minutes to fill out the InOutRecord – 6 Steps Thinking Grid below. This tool will serve as your roadmap for 2025, helping you track your progress and adjust your approach along the way.