My 2025 Monthly Challenges

A simple system to stay consistent—even when life gets busy.

Friends,

I get BIG TIME January energy. I love deluding myself into thinking that this is the year I will completely reinvent myself and somehow avoid all the traps caused by Past Hilary’s weaknesses and struggles. Over the years, I’ve tried different ways to keep that energy going. Most of the time, I run out of steam, and by February I’m lying on the couch thinking about a sandwich that I loved in 2012 from a place that closed down a decade ago. And scrolling on my phone. And, uh, falling into all the same traps that stand between me and a consistent routine of behaviors that help me feel my best.

Except!! Every few years, instead of setting a resolution, I create monthly challenges for myself. One small thing to do (or avoid) each day, with a new focus every month. It’s easy to commit to, it keeps things novel, and it allows me to chip away at a few different areas of life over the year instead of trying to overhaul everything at once (and immediately burning out).

Honestly, this is the only thing I’ve found that actually helps me stay consistent with the habits that make me feel better.

(Before I get into the details—if you want to try monthly challenges yourself, I made a goal-tracking worksheet you can copy and customize. It’s packed with ideas and suggestions for alternative challenges, too.)

Last time I did this (here are my reflections), I mostly made it through, but a few months were complete fails. Sometimes I pivoted—like swapping “no screens after 9 PM” for “no phone in the bedroom” when I realized the first goal was unrealistic. Other times, I just…stopped trying.

This year's twist: The three star system

Inspired by mobile games (lol), I’m giving myself three levels for each challenge:

• ⭐⭐️⭐️ Stretch goal – if I’m feeling motivated and want to overachieve

• ⭐️⭐️ The goal – what I actually set out to do

• ⭐️ Fallback – the "better than nothing" option that keeps momentum alive when life happens

Having a fallback option means no more all-or-nothing thinking, which I tend to struggle with. Even if I only manage 5 minutes of meditation instead of 10, I’m still doing something good for myself.

Hilary’s Monthly Challenges for 2025:

🚴 January: 10-20 mins Zone 2+ cardio every day
🧹 February: 10+ minutes of decluttering daily
🥗 March: Vegetables with every meal
📵 April: No social media
✍️ May: Journal one page every day
🥰 June: Give one genuine compliment every day
🎨 July: Draw for 10-20 minutes every day
🧘‍♀️ August: 10+ minutes of meditation every morning
🎙️ September: Send a voice memo to a friend every day
☀️ October: 10-20 minutes of direct sunlight every morning
📖 November: 20-30 minutes of reading a physical book every day
🏋️ December: 10-30 minutes of lifting weights every day

Want to try this yourself?

I made a slightly unhinged worksheet to track all this. It has some fun easter eggs that appear as you make progress (because apparently, I can't resist gamifying everything). You can copy it and make it your own—I even included some alternative challenge ideas in the second tab if you want to customize it.

I'd love to hear what you're working on, even if it's just (“just”) remembering that sandwich you loved in 2012.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

1. For Christmas, Colin got me John James Audobon’s The Birds of America, an absolute show-stopper of a book that I have long fantasized about owning. The prints are all in the public domain and you can browse them here if you share my love of 19th-century naturalist illustrations. The sandpipers above are among my favorites.

2. Lest you think I have nothing to say about AI today….here are some fun ways I used it over the holiday break:

   1. Took a photo of a lotion ingredient list and asked Claude to check it for phthalates or other sketchy ingredients

   2. On the long drive home, Colin and I listened to a podcast that pushed beyond our technical understanding in certain areas, so we would pause it and ask Claude to explain the concepts, ask a bunch of follow-up and clarification questions, and test our comprehension by explaining it back before continuing with the podcast (honestly 10/10 way to learn something)

   3. Asked for beginner piano resources for adults after Colin got an electric piano for Christmas

   4. Had Claude help me make a list of materials for a new craft, parsing out what I truly needed to get started vs. what could wait

   5. Found the best stretches for a weird muscle pain I was dealing with

   6. Got a TON of help formatting the worksheet linked above

That’s it for now. Happy new year!

xoxo,

Hilary

Source: Mutts by Patrick McDonnell