How to Set Goals and Create Healthy Habits in 2025

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Podcast

Mark Manson

Self-improvement, Education

4.8 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 1 January 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this special New Year's episode of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck podcast, we dive into the perennial challenge of making meaningful changes in our lives. Rather than falling into the typical "new year, new you" trap that leads most people to abandon their resolutions by February, Drew and I explore a different approach to personal transformation. We share our own struggles with perfectionism, control, and finding purpose.

We also dig into some research about how evolution may have shaped our sense of purpose, the science of habit formation, and offer practical strategies for making lasting changes. Whether you're setting goals for the new year or just trying to build better habits, this episode will help you approach personal growth with more wisdom and less pressure in 2025. Enjoy.

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Theme song: Icarus Lives by Periphery, used with permission from Periphery.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, it's that time of year again, Drew. You know what time it is?
0:03.9	What time is it? It is that time that we do every roughly 365 days where we arbitrarily decide that this is the time that we're finally going to change something about ourselves.
0:16.0	And then we sit and we obsess and we get really excited and we write down a bunch of goals. And then by February we were back to snacking on the couch and watching Love is Blind
0:26.6	reruns.
0:27.6	Maybe I'm just speaking for myself.
0:29.6	I don't know about you.
0:30.6	It checks out pretty much.
0:32.6	Yeah, yeah.
0:33.6	It's the subtle art of not giving a fuck podcast with your host, Mark Manson.
0:40.6	Are you ready for this time?
0:42.2	Are you excited for this yet another New Year, New Year, New You special?
0:46.8	I do like a fresh start.
0:48.2	I do.
0:49.3	And maybe that's just because of the novelty of it or whatever.
0:51.2	But I do appreciate the fresh starts.
0:53.5	Yeah.
0:53.9	Yeah.
0:54.1	I will say my evolution with New Year's or New Year, New You, it's changed.
1:01.3	You know, when I was younger, I was very cynical about it. I was like, this is stupid. You should be
1:04.9	able to change your life any time of the year. You don't need a specific date. But I do think
1:09.9	there is some sort of value to the ritual of, hey, first, first, you don't need a specific date, but I do think there is some sort of value
1:12.0	to the ritual of, hey, first week of January, let's sit down assess your life, what's working,
	...

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