2025: Year of Dreams

As the new year begins, it’s natural to ask: What should I do differently? Perhaps you’re wondering how to be healthier, how to “japa” (move abroad), get out of debt, return to school, or finally achieve your dream life. These are legitimate concerns to have—you must raise, maybe address, them!

But this year, 2025—the year of your dreams—let’s take it further. Imagine yourself in the departure lounge of life, getting ready for your final flight. What would you want people to thank you for? You don’t need an answer immediately. I encourage you to sit with the question.

Another way to think about it: What feels like a problem you’d feel refreshed tackling head-on? Or ask yourself: What is my impact value? If you could push one button to change ONE thing in the world, what would it be?

Ask, Answer, and Act

These questions only matter if you go beyond thinking and start doing. Life doesn’t give you what you deserve; it gives you what you actively negotiate for. But let’s be real—fear will try to stop you. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, and even the fear of what you’ll need to let go of: some friends, certain habits, gatherings, or even comforts like food and technology.

Ask yourself these questions often. Don’t wait for New Year’s Day. Birthdays, anniversaries, or even a quiet moment on a random Tuesday are perfect times to reflect on what truly matters.

Not Bothered Enough

If there’s nothing that bothers you enough to confront head-on, that’s also revealing. It might be worth exploring what that says about you and what it’s trying to teach you. Don’t ignore it. Growth often begins with uncomfortable self-awareness.

Ultimate Legacy

At the end of life, it’s never about what we kept to ourselves; it’s about what we gave away—our time, our love, our efforts, and our impact.

So, as you work on your dreams this year, remember this: we need the best version of you. You need it for yourself, and the world needs it, too. When you thrive, you inspire others to do the same.

Let 2025 be the year you ask the right questions, confront your fears, and take bold steps toward a better life—for yourself and for the world around you.

GOAL-setting and all

As we stand on the cusp of a new year, many will set lofty goals, draft intricate plans, and resolve to transform their lives. But let me offer a different lens through which to view the year ahead. I am not a goal-oriented person. I don’t set goals—not because there’s anything wrong with them, but because they have never resonated with me. My joy has always come from helping others achieve their dreams. If goals work for you, keep going; I’m cheering you on. But for those who feel burdened by the pressure of goals, let me suggest another path: a purpose-driven life.

What will you want people to thank you for at the end of your life?

This question, deceptively simple, is a doorway to profound reflection. At life’s end, the accolades we gather for ourselves pale in comparison to the lives we touch, the burdens we lift, and the love we give away. Purpose—not productivity—is the precursor to happiness. And purpose is always outward-facing; it is never about what we hoard for ourselves, but about what we extend to others.

Herein lies one of life’s great paradoxes: to give of oneself is to gain everything that matters. To be consumed with oneself is to wither away. Some of history’s greatest truths are rooted in paradox. Sometimes winning is losing. Sometimes surrender is victory.

This paradox challenges the self-improvement ethos that dominates our culture. While there is value in personal growth, self-denial often emerges as the greater good. Think of the people you admire most. Likely, they are not the ones who climbed highest for themselves but those who lifted others along the way. There’s a reason we venerate selflessness: we see in it a reflection of who we long to be. We want to work with selfless people, marry them, raise them, and trust them with our dreams.

So, as 2025 begins, I urge you to ask yourself three things:

1. What stirs you to joy?

2. What breaks your heart?

3. What moves you from sad to mad?

And when you answer, take a moment to reflect. If the things that ignite your emotions are solely centered on your own gain, consider this an invitation to recalibrate. True transformation comes not from acquiring more for ourselves but from giving more of ourselves.

Purpose, not goals, gives life its meaning. So, as we embark on this new year, let’s make it a year of dreams—not just for ourselves but for everyone we encounter. And may we find that in giving, we receive something far greater than we ever imagined.

.Ukoh is an alum of the American University of Nigeria, Yola, and a PhD student at Columbia University, New York.