From Vision to Reality: 12 questions to Achieve Actionable Change in 2025

Creating actionable change in 2025

Now the year is in full swing, its time to focus in on the changes that you’d like to make and figure out how that can happen in a way that means you are most likely to succeed. You may have had big dreams that have blurred a little out of focus or indeed some resolutions that fizzled in the drizzle. Now is a great time to get focussed on what you’d like to achieve.

For each of your goals and aims to come to fruition you will need a healthy dose of clarity and focus. These twelve questions, split into four different areas can really help you in your bid for success!

What - Definition and purpose

Define your purpose

What do you want to achieve?

This may sound obvious but all too many people start off with a vague concept that doesn’t have enough substance or specific meaning. You’ll have heard it before but being specific helps us focus on the real, tangible benefits of our goal. So it isn’t simply ‘Read more’ it isn’t even just ‘Read four books a month’ it actually needs to drill into the specifics ie. ‘Read three fiction books per month and one non fiction’. You can even go further e.g. ‘Read three fiction books per month;

One classic I feel I should have read

One current best-seller

One new title I hadn’t heard of

Plus one non fiction per month;

Alternating between a biography and a self improvement title’

You will find that being this detailed will start to give you the information you need to fulfil your aims.

What will achieving it enable you to do?

This might appear to be the same as the first question, but it isn’t. Let’s just say your aim is to lose weight - we need to know what its going to do for you, to help maintain your drive and motivation. If you can picture what you’ll be able to do, its all the more likely to happen. It might be that you’ll be able

to run 5k without getting out of breath, fit into your favourite pair of jeans again or look great in your wedding outfit. Choose just one thing that achieving this goal will allow you to do and it will help keep you on track.

What will that mean for you?

This is simpler than you might think. Going on the above examples it might mean that you feel healthier, feel like yourself again or feel special on your big day.

What's the underlying purpose of the change?

This goes a little deeper. It will rarely be the first answer you come up with. The first answer might be ‘to get fitter’, then you have to ask again what the purpose of that is, which might be ‘so that I keep healthy as I get older’ then asking again might result for someone in an answer such as ‘I’ve been worrying about my health as I’ve got older, because my dad died at just 5 years older than me. This will let me feel like I am doing something pro-active, rather than leaving everything to chance and that makes me feel better and more self assured’. There you have it, the real underlying purpose.

How - resources, obstacles and success

What do I need to get started?

Resouces ready

How many times have you decided to do something only to be derailed immediately because you don’t have all of the right ingredients? For some this causes a slight delay, for others a convenient excuse to jump of the wagon saying ‘well, I tried!’. Getting prepared really help get you off to a good start. Remember, what you need might be very obvious (e.g. The right food or a book) or it might be more about your surroundings or headspace such as a good night’s sleep or a quiet weekend beforehand.

Are there additional resources I'll need along the way?

Some people are great at getting started, but they don’t imagine what it is going to be like on the journey. Have a think what you’ll need as you progress. It might be some kind of regular order, it might be some additional expertise or support - it might even be a planned break. What do you need to help you to keep moving forward?

What obstacles do I need to be aware of?

We need to be careful of this one and ensure it doesn’t turn into a list of why not to do something. So look ahead and identify the obstacles in your mind and the practical obstacles and figure ot how you are going to tackle them. On the practical side you might need to block specific times out in your calendar and inform people of your boundaries (and make sure you stick to them - if you don’t, they won’t!). It might be that your challenges are about how you are feeling, thinking or confidence levels - in which case line up some support thelp work through these. Either a friend or a professional like a life coach can be super helpful.

What is going to give me the best chance of success?

This is more of a one liner, but it needs to be authentic. For example: ‘Prepare well, track progress, get support when I need it and Celebrate when I achieve it.’

When - timescales and tracking

How long do I need to achieve my goals?

Be realistic. Give yourself enough time but not too much so that you become complacent. If you realise early on (or as you progress) that your timescale isn’t right - adjust it! You’ll need it to stay with it.

What are the key phases of the journey?

This is about breaking your big goal down into smaller achievable chunks, with a different focus on each.

What and when are the milestones?

For each of the phases what are the key points or deadlines you are aiming to hit? Remember at the end of each milestone you’ll need to both look back and learn from the phase you have just been in so that you can build upon it. You’ll also need to prepare for the next phase in a similar way to the way you did at the beginning.

How will I know I'm on track?

Obviously this will partly be about hitting the milestones, but also think about how you’ll be feeling, thinking, what you’ll be doing and what you’ll be saying. Having this in your mind from the off puts you in a growth mindset that spurs on change.

Who - Support to achieve and champion

Plan your support

Who can help me?

Think of all the people in your life that might help in some way. All the people who aren’t in your life yet and get researching how you can connect with them. Good too to think how you’ll speak about your goal for those around you who may be less naturally supportive (keep their influence to a minimum). When you have identified the different people/resources (or it may be just a single source of help) decide exactly how you are planning to use their assistance and schedule it in.

Who’ll help maintain my momentum? 

This need to be people or resources that help to inspire. To understand who or what can help with this, you need to do a bit of thinking about what oyu find demotivating and what is going to be the antidote to that.

Who's going ensure I remain adaptable?

Adaptability is absolutely key. There’ll be difficult times, unforeseen challenges. It isn’t just about sticking to the plan but also about revisiting it and updating it for continued success. For this you’ll need fresh thinking na d a positive mindset. Just ‘keeping on going’ isn’t always enough. Its about what’s figuring out what’s working, what’s not and using that information to keep your plan live and active.

Who will celebrate my successes?

It’s no fun reaching the top if there’s no way to celebrate that. It is also really useful to have someone who will champion your smaller wins along the way. It builds resilience and encourages us to carry on. Generally whoever you choose will need to have some insight into the purpose of why you are doing the whole thing and also some visibility on your phases and milestones. It might be an expert or just an interested party - just make sure you feel the love!

If you manage to answer all of the questions at the start - and continue to revisit them as you move along, you will indeed be setting yourself up for the very best chance of success!

A life or career coach can really help you work through your thoughts and plans and offer expert insight to keep you on track - maybe achieving even more than you had imagined! Here at rachelcoffeycoaching.com there are plenty of sessions and programmes that will help you achieve your goals this year! Time to get started!