Where Do You Want to Be in 12 Months?
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Have you given some thought to how you want to live the next weeks, months, year? Now is a good time to think forward, then work back. Where do you want to be one year from now?

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After the hullabaloo of the holidays, January is a great time for a reset. Not just because it’s the first month of a new year, but also because it’s a moment of calm after a storm.
Seriously. Anyone else really tired and ready to straighten out some wonky habits?
Last week I tucked away the last of the Christmas decor and we’re seeing white space in the freezers as we work through our yearly pantry challenge.
Cleaning and tidying aside, it’s also a great time to think ahead.
How can I better prepare for Future Me?
The question applies to us all. No matter how we spend our days.
How can I better prepare for Future Me?
Common objections to the question of planning for the future include:
What if I change my mind?
What if I don’t want to do that when the time comes around?
What if my circumstances are different so that X, Y, Z isn’t feasible?
What if my family objects?
What if I live a different life? What if I’m a different person?
Yes, you will, they will, and you will be.
But research shows that connecting to your future self and doing things in her favor will benefit you both now and then.
Think about Later You Now.
In projecting forward into the future and thinking about what you want a year from now, you can put plans in action to help you get there. You don’t necessarily have to commit to those specific actions right now, but you might not have a chance to do so later if you don’t lay the ground work now.
You can think far and then draw back a bit and think and plan for the next 90 days, with your future you in mind.
Your life is a draft. A story that is constantly being revised. It’s absolutely okay for your plans for Future You to change over the coming weeks and months.
Your future matters, no matter how old you are.
I’m going to be 53 in the spring. I consider myself only half-done with life. There’s a lot I still want to do, including but not limited to travel more extensively, learn to be a hiker, go snorkeling again, dance at my kids’ weddings, and hold my grandbabies.
Even though most of those things are pretty far off in the future, I still need to plan for them. I still need to think about Future Jessica.
And your future You needs you, too.
Think about what you want to do next year at this time? How do you want to feel? What do you want to have accomplished?
When I wrote my Christmas Debrief this year, I realized how much the holiday break was not a break. Like I said already, I’m exhausted.
It was a lot of cooking, cleaning, hosting, etc. all crammed into one week or so.
However, I can do something different next year. I can either rework the holiday season to be less or I can adjust my expectations and plan some deliberate rest for January, so that I will get a break.
Or I can do something altogether different.
Regardless, thinking ahead to a year from now can inform how I spend my days between now and then. For instance, in January 2025, I would like:
- to have read another 60 books, but have most of them be intentional and thought-provoking and not so much fluffy fiction (as much as a love it)
- to have traveled to Japan with my husband and five of our kids, probably our last big trip with most of the fam. We have great memories of family travel together.
- to have dejunked and organized each space in our home so that what is there is well-loved and easy to find.
- to have refreshed my sewing skills and replaced our 30yo quilt with a new one.
- to be at a healthy weight and have my blood work reflect a healthier lifestyle.
These are five very measurable things that I want for my life next January. I will either have achieved them or I won’t.
With those things in mind, I can work backward to help those things happen. For instance,
- I have a reading list and a place to track my progress in my planner.
- We are actively planning our trip to Japan. I have specific days scheduled on the calendar this month to dive deep and map it out with a deadline of Valentine’s Day to have things figured out.
- I have a spring cleaning checklist and plan to assign certain rooms to specific days.
- I have picked out a sewing machine and plan to research quilting after Japan is planned.
- I have my health protocols outlined and am ready to dig back in.
What will you do for 2026 You?
You don’t have to tell me what it is (though I’d love for you to leave a comment!), but I do want you to think about it!
More Good Ideas for Goal Setting
What do you think?
I’d be honored if you chimed in the comments section. What do you think?
I’ve finally arrived at a place where what I’ve been doing has helped me enough to do more, healthwise. My doctor always has suggestions and recommendations, but in the past I could really only manage various supplements, and not the myriad of other good advice. Late last summer I really went through the treatment notes and added in targeted, specific foods I want to eat, and set reminders (Why didn’t I do that before) for my supplement schedule and when to refill all the weekly boxes. Progress is slow and inconsistent, but I think I’m still moving forward.
All of that to say that I want to be in a better position next year as far as my weight, energy, and mental clarity. Following my doctor’s notes and getting back on my rower are the tools to get me there.