Hi friends,

As we approach 2025, it's time for honest self-reflection. While some dismiss New Year's resolutions, this period can provide the momentum needed for meaningful change—especially in fitness. Here's your formula for making 2025 your strongest year yet.

1. Set Clear Goals

Seneca, the Stoic philosopher, said, “There is no favorable wind for the sailor who doesn’t know where to go.”

To achieve your fitness goals, you need to first come up with realistic goals.

Be specific about what you want to achieve. Whether it's building endurance, increasing strength, or reducing body fat, detailed goals make it easier to design an effective program.

2. Create a System

Find a workout plan that matches your goals (even ChatGPT can help here). Otherwise, there are numerous free workout plans that you can find on the internet.

Make sure that the program fits into your weekly schedule. If you don’t make time for the gym, it’ll likely be pushed to the back burner.

Each Sunday night, I block my week’s worth of workouts in Google Calendar. This removes decision fatigue and makes showing up non-negotiable.

3. Master Recovery

Recovery is a catch-all term for managing stress, getting enough sleep, giving your body nutritious foods to build stronger tissues, and allowing your body time to recover from the stress of a workout.

Too many people overexert themselves early in the year, leading to burnout and a lack of follow-through with their goals.

Don't fall into the trap of overtraining early in the year. Build gradually to prevent burnout.

4. Embrace Consistency

Regular, moderate workouts trump sporadic intense sessions.

Making gains in the gym is often monotonous and boring. It takes 8-12 weeks to start building muscle mass. The best way to do this is to do similar lifts over and over for a long period while increasing the weight by 2-5% weekly.

To be a person who works out consistently, you need to adopt the identity of one who is an exerciser.

As James Clear notes in Atomic Habits, "Incentives can start a habit, identity sustains a habit." When fitness becomes part of your identity, staying consistent becomes natural.

5. Get Accountable

I’ve seen many ways that people hold themselves accountable. Former Navy Seal, Jocko Willink posts his 4:30 AM wake-up time daily.

Author Nir Eyal has a system he calls Burn or Burn. Either he burns calories in the gym, or he literally burns a $100 bill.

You have to figure out what works best for you. Sometimes just working out with a friend is enough to hold you accountable.

Final Thoughts

Don't aim for overnight transformation. Focus on sustainable progress and becoming the person who prioritizes fitness. Small, consistent steps always beat unsustainable ambitious goals.

What are your fitness goals for 2025? Reply and let me know!

Until next week,

Kevin

✍️ Quote I’m reflecting upon

“Most people tell themselves that if they felt better, they’d do the thing—when it’s actually doing the thing that makes you feel better.”

—Mark Manson

❤️ Things I’m enjoying

1. Podcast - 5 Powerful Habits to Build Unshakable Confidence - Ali Abdaal’s Deep Dive podcast. A great podcast for those who are more on the introverted side of the spectrum to listen to. Too often we spend so much time in our heads thinking about what we should say next instead of just reacting to the conversation and saying what naturally comes to mind.

2. Book - Free Will by Sam Harris. This short book on free will shattered my brain. I’m still putting together my thoughts on the subject, but Sam makes a compelling argument against the theory of humans having free will. He summarizes by saying, “The moment we pay attention, it is possible to see that free will is nowhere to be found, and our experience is perfectly compatible with this truth. Thoughts and intentions simply arise in the mind. What else could they do? The truth about us is stranger than many suppose: The illusion of free will is itself an illusion.”

3. Shoes - Xero Prio Neo. I’ve had these shoes for a few months now and absolutely love them. I’m planning on doing a formal review of minimalist shoes soon, but if you’re considering trying a pair, I’ve been quite pleased with these.