An Open Letter to 2025
Addressing Change, Challenges, and Potential
My favorite New Years picture of 2025, taken by the talented Heather Khalifa
Dearest 2025,
You're weird.
Not in a bad kind of way, in a -I'm not sure how to approach you- sort of way. We're a week into your existence, with 51 weeks ahead of us. I say this with awe, you have so much potential, so much time ahead of you!
That’s what makes you weird—you’re a blinding light of potential.
And potential is exciting, it's waking up on the right side of the bed, it's the jitters running through you before you start something new,
it's uncertainty.
And that's beautiful. A scary kind of beautiful, but still beautiful.
2025, I've had 14 first days of school so far.
Every first day there was night before where I couldn't fall asleep, too excited and nervous about the next day. I'd sit in my bed staring up at a pitch black ceiling and wonder, wonder what was going to happen.
How would I change this school year?
What would be different?
Would I cry? Would I smile?
Who would come into my life and who would I say goodbye to?
Would I try something new? What books would I read?
How would I change?
Sometimes I'd lay and craft scenarios all night, imagining. Sometimes my imagination would lull me back to sleep, but those questions never quite went away.
They'd lay dormant in the back of my mind, waiting to slip in at the next milestone, next birthday— next year.
So as I bid a brisk goodbye to 2024, and a hello to you, 2025, those questions slip back through the shadow of the ball drop and I ask you:
How will we change this year?
Yours truly for the next 357 days,
Kate
Another awesome picture of New Years (London!) from Adrian Dennis, I could stare at the details in this landscape forever :-)
A Small Takeaway
Hello everyone! I hope you've had a good start to your 2025, and if you haven't remember we have 51 weeks ahead of us to change that.
Speaking of change, if I haven't done it enough in this open letter, I encourage you to reflect on how you might want to change in 2025.
No, we aren't in control of everything, stuff will come up, challenges will pop in whether we like it or not, but we can control our mindset and actions.
So, I encourage you to take 5 minutes and pull out a piece of paper, I don't care if its a leather bound notebook or the back of a receipt!
In one word, what do you want to focus on in 2025?
Once you have thought of a focus write down 2 big goals that fit it. Make a tree and write two smaller goals under each of those big goals.
Think of our 51 weeks in 2025, each week how can you work to accomplish one of those small goals?
Here's my example. Go wild with yours!
Newsletters, Resources, and More!
Here's a few other writers on Substack who've talked about their thoughts on 2025—check them out!
Why I'm not setting any New Year's resolutions this year by
looks at her experience with New Year's goal setting, I loved her reflection and it made me rethink my approach to goal setting for 2025!A Beautiful Meditation on the New Year and where he and we are in life by
. Beautiful imagery and narrative building!Want to see more amazing pictures of 2025 so far? Check out this BBC article from New Years around the World!
Welcome back to Steeped In Success with a brand new shine. I hope you enjoyed this different style of writing, more reflection than research this time. The next article will be out on Sunday, about the psychological affects of environment.
Until next teatime,
I'm a bit late, halfway through the first month already! My focus this year will be on being present in the current moment, not focusing too much on past and future but just being here, right now. Wishing you a lovely 2025!!