Creating Your Best Life in 2025

Hey creators! We have officially reached a brand new year! Most people are going to tell you what ways to be the most productive but I refuse to only make my life about productivity. That brings way too much stress and not enough joy and I’m all about making life festive so here are 7 ways for you to transform your life into one that you love without all of the “early bird gets the worm” rhetoric.

• Create a peaceful morning and night routine.

  • You’ve probably heard this one a million and one times but I can’t stress enough how much good a decent morning and nighttime routine will do for you. Along with improving your sleep quality and metabolism/healing rate, these routines can be a way to improve your overall mood by allowing you to have time for just you. You can spend your routine doing the skincare you’ve always wanted to try, playing a video game or doing a puzzle, or even reading and meditating. If you want to be more active in your routines, try adding yoga, a walk, or a workout to your routine. Trust me, having more time to yourself will make you a much happier person.

  • Here’s an example for a chill morning: wake up, drink water, yoga/meditate, hygiene/dress, read, then start your day.

• Find something active that you can do multiple times a week.

  • If you can do yoga or pilates and go for a walk everyday or every other day, do it. Mobility and weight training as we age is so important and you probably already know how good walking is for your health, but even if that’s not your biggest why, walking boosts your mood. It’s even better if your walk is outside instead of the treadmill cause being outside has been proven to improve your mood as well. Win win win. These are low stakes ways to keep your body and MIND in shape and limit stress. Add a friend in person or on a phone call if it’ll help keep you accountable and consistent!

• Hobbies

  • Everyone I speak to will hear me talk about what your life is like outside of work. As much as I am obsessed with making movies and tv shows, it can burn me out if it’s a stressful environment or if I’m working the usual 12-hour days for long stretches of time. Plus, I just want to be an interesting person and having something else to talk about outside of work, even if it’s my passion, helps make me feel like I’m attempting to be more interesting. That’s obviously debatable lol. What do you enjoy doing or have always wanted to try? For me, it was a pottery class last year and I can’t wait to go back and get better at more intricate pieces. Now, I want to play more of my video games, learn new piano songs, learn some new recipes and take a couple of acting courses. Anything can be a hobby and the best part about that is that you don’t have to put any parameters on it if you don’t want to. It’s totally at your pace and you don’t even have to strive to be good at it. A perfectionist’s dream!

• Always have something to look forward to.

  • Sometimes life can get bland, so having moments and festivities to look forward to help make the time feel more festive and help you to stay present. I’m talking having friend dates, lunch with your parents, solo dates, a dance class, a bat, or a concert. These activities break up the monotony of the work-sleep-work cycle.

• Cultivate community.

  • Prioritize relationships with the people in your life. Figure out who’s there for a reason, season or a lifetime. Sometimes this process really sucks but wouldn’t you rather be around people who actually like and care about you? That affects your mental health so much so it would behoove all of us to access our community. After that, put the time in! Put dates on the calendar, plan dinners, run errands together, make phone calls. You have to be a good friend if you want good friends. This goes for family too. I know that not everyone is close with their families for various valid reasons, but if the relationships can be mended (if you feel it’s worth the time and effort), then make that a priority as well. Tell your people you love them AND show it.

• Make every season special.

  • Decorate for each season and have specific mugs, dinner/cookware, and t-shirts for each. You don’t have to break the bank for any of it. Your local thrift store would have lots of great options, as well as the dollar store. I’ve found many pieces at the dollar store, AtHome, and HomeGoods/Marshalls at great prices and of great quality. Yes, the dollar store has good/sturdy glassware that has lasted me years. You can buy T-shirts from Walgreens or Michael’s and DIY it or make a design on Canva to print. Host friends and family with seasonal or holiday-inspired mocktails, meals, and desserts. Have a themed activity (y’all know I love an activity) and you’re good to go!

• Journaling.

  • I can’t tell you how many times journaling my day or week at the end of the day has improved my mood and mental health. It’s something about just getting it all out that feels freeing and relaxing. Adding on gratitude for something from the day is what really sets it off. When I started really practicing gratitude daily, my whole perspective changed. You can even make a journal for anything these days: film/tv, reading, hobbies, scrapbooking, bible study, travel. Whatever floats your boat.

Creating a life that you love doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult and trust me, I know the struggle of not having enough funds to do everything that you want. However, that doesn’t mean that we can enjoy the journey to more funds and keep our morale up. Life is what we make it. Literally. So we can choose to do nothing/the bare minimum and complain, or we can make it special, magical and fulfilling while fighting for better ways of living in a crazy world. All of these things have made me a better version of myself and really appreciate the life that I have been blessed with. It may get hard sometimes, but it never has to be boring! I hope you use these tips to create your best life this year and beyond!