The start of a new year brings fresh possibilities—a chance to reflect, reset, and focus on what matters most.

When it comes to happiness, however, research shows that we’re not always good at predicting what will make us happy. Studies have found that people often overestimate how much external achievements or material gains will boost their well-being, while underestimating the importance of daily habits, relationships, and personal growth.

How to be happier in 2025

The truth is, happiness isn’t one-size-fits-all. What brings joy and fulfillment to one person may not work for another. So before you can figure out how to be happier in 2025, there’s another question you should try to answer first: Who am I? By understanding yourself—your priorities, tendencies, and habits—you can create a plan tailored to your unique nature.

Discover your “what to do next” for happiness

When it comes to creating a happier life, the first step is understanding what will make the biggest difference right now. Many of us try to tackle everything at once—health, career, relationships, hobbies—but spreading yourself too thin can lead to frustration and burnout. By narrowing your focus to the area that will most improve your happiness, you set yourself up for success.

What areas of your life feel out of balance? Is it your relationships, your career, your health, or something else entirely? Taking the time to reflect on this question can help you identify what matters most. 

If you need help answering this question–and many people do!–give the Habits for Happiness Quiz a try. 

Once you’ve identified your “what to do next,” you can move forward.

Design your year around your aims

The next step after identifying your “what” is to make a plan. New year’s resolutions work for some people, but certainly not for everyone. Over the years, I’ve developed the Design Your Year approach as a flexible, less intimidating way to make progress toward my aims–while still leaving room for whimsy and fun.

Design Your Year includes three tools:

• • A one-word theme to sum up what you want to get out of your year

• • A list of aims you’d like to make progress toward, based on the year (e.g., “25 for ’25)

• • A year-long challenge, based on the year (e.g. “Read 25 in ’25–read for 25 minutes each day in 2025)

Breaking down your aims into specific themes and actions makes it easier to take consistent, meaningful steps.

Whatever approach you take, the important thing is to make sure it works for you. It’s one of my Secrets of Adulthood: You’re unique–just like everyone else.

Consider your Tendency

Even the most carefully crafted plans can fail if they don’t reflect what’s true about you. Are you a morning person or a night person? An abstainer or a moderator? Do you need accountability–or resist it?

Most importantly, understanding how you respond to expectations can make all the difference.

In my book The Four Tendencies I identified four personality types:

• Upholders respond readily to outer and inner expectations.
• Questioners will meet an expectation if they think it makes sense.
• Obligers meet outer expectations but struggle to meet inner ones.
• Rebels resist all expectations, inner and outer alike.

Once you’ve identified your Tendency (take the free Four Tendencies Quiz if you aren’t sure), you can adapt your strategies to work with your nature instead of against it.

For example, if you’re an Obliger who struggles to stick with personal goals, finding an accountability partner can help keep you on track. Similarly, a Rebel who hates rigid plans might thrive with a more flexible, choose-your-own-adventure approach. Find an approach to building habits that works for you.

Your happier year

Happiness isn’t something that happens by chance—it’s something you can cultivate with self-knowledge and thoughtful planning. By discovering what matters most to you, designing a plan around your priorities, and aligning your approach with your unique nature, you can create meaningful progress toward a happier life.

This year as you think about how to be happier in 2025, take the time to reflect on what kind of life you want to lead.

Whether it’s strengthening relationships, improving your health, or finding more balance, remember that what we do every day matters more than what we do once in a while.