Every year, at the end of December, I take time to look back and take stock of what I have achieved. It’s a personal ritual that helps me understand where I’ve come and where I want to go. At the beginning of the new year, I set my annual goals in black and white. It’s not just about the classic good intentions, but concrete and measurable goals, designed to improve myself as a person and achieve something meaningful.

This process helps me to keep my focus throughout the year. Of course, it’s not always easy, because years seem to fly by without noticing, and we often find ourselves chasing time. But knowing that I am working for something gives me a sense of direction and, above all, satisfaction when I can achieve what I set out to do.

For me, writing my good intentions means much more than making a to-do list. It’s a time for reflection. I try to include goals that relate to various aspects of my life: personal growth, professional skills, sports, personal finance and also my relationship with others.

For example, one of my most recurrent goals is to improve my English and finally get a certification. I’ve been trying for three years, but I don’t give up, I know that sooner or later I’ll get there. Another important milestone for this year was my graduation, a goal that took me so much effort but I managed to achieve.

This year I managed to conclude 9/12 good resolutions and I hope that in 2025 I can do the same.

One of the things that helped me the most was writing everything down on a Notion sheet. Having everything under control and well organized allows me to stay focused and see clearly what I did and what I miss. Every month I take a moment to look at them and break them into small monthly goals, I had talked about it in the article "My monthly goals".

For example, if my goal is to increase work skills, I try to spend time each month studying or improving a specific skill. This approach helps me not to feel overwhelmed and to progress step by step towards what I want to achieve. Even if I can’t always.

There is one thing that surprises me every year: time flies. Years go by in a flash, and sometimes I feel like I haven’t done enough. I am very critical of myself and characteristically I want to do more and more. But that’s why these good intentions are so important: they help me make sense of the time that passes and the things I bring to my destination. I use them as a weapon against myself.

I know it’s not always easy to achieve everything I set out to do. There are moments of fatigue, moments when I do not want to do anything, but then looking back at what I wrote I say "I forgot that I wanted to do all these things" and so I recover.

One thing I always say to those who know me is that it’s not essential to focus on the target, because over time it can vary, change shape or even seem less important. What really matters is to stay close to the center, keep the right direction. It’s like shooting at the target: you don’t always have to make 50 points, but have a shot that is close to the result we want to achieve. Even if things don’t go as planned, you are certainly very close to your center, more than you imagine.

The important thing is to use the time, the path we take to improve, rather than the exact point where we arrive. That’s why every year, even if I don’t achieve everything I had planned, I’m still satisfied with what I’ve achieved.