In 2025, I decided to organize my annual goals around the concept of side quests (you can learn more about side quests in this podcast episode).
Each side quest has a theme and several accompanying goals and/or milestones. I also decided to keep some “maintenance goals,” along with my quarterly TBD goals, which leave space for things that come up throughout the year that I wasn’t anticipating.
As we close out Q1 of 2025, I wanted to offer a check in on how each of these side quests are going.
YouTube Side Quest
In January, I launched a new YouTube channel called workflow where I publish weekly videos that translate project management into higher education contexts (you could definitely consider this an offshoot of my PM by Design trainings). I got a head start for this project in late 2024 (including buying some new equipment and software, and upgrading some of my technology), but here are some of the goals and milestones that I have associated with this project for 2025 (and my progress on each):
- Transition from editing in iMovie to editing in Final Cut Pro – done! I completed a training on how to use Final Cut Pro and I have now transitioned all my video editing and podcast editing into this new platform. I find it to be faster than my previous editing software and it also has some more advanced editing features that I can continue to learn and integrate into my videos throughout this year.
- Make and post the first set of videos – done! As of the end of Q1, I have 12 videos posted to the channel. I started posting weekly the second week of January and, so far, so good! For updates on when new videos are posted each Thursday, you can subscribe to the channel here!
- Integrate workflow channel updates into my website and newsletters – done! I’ve added sections into my weekly newsletter and my monthly newsletter to share about this new content. I also added a section to the PM by Design homepage that shares some of the workflow videos.
- Research and draft video scripts with powerful hooks – ongoing! While I’ve started to get more creative about my video scripts and hooks, I’m also giving myself some space and time to learn new editing techniques and strategies. I think getting stronger in this area will continue throughout the year.
- Create a shooting, editing, and posting schedule to start posting consistent videos – done! I now batch record videos for each month and then edit each of them a few days before they post. I have new videos going up on the channel every Thursday.
- Grow the channel by 1k followers each quarter – this was a very pie-in-the sky number that I threw out there in the beginning of the year, but I’m thrilled with the 160+ subscribers that I have to this channel since I started it. I’d be happy to get to 500 by the end of the year, so we’ll see what happens!
Business Logistics Side Quest
Every few years I like to do a deeper dive on the operations side of my business. (Some people call this working “on” your business instead of just “in” your business.) This next year, I have the following goals and milestones related to this side quest:
- Research new features in Mailchimp (my email marketing platform) and adjust current practices accordingly – in progress! I completed a Udemy course on email marketing and also have been utilizing the platform for some automated emails related to my AMA series.
- Review and adjust business expenses – this is started! I began to review some expenses and have adjusted two plans for products I use that will save me about $37 a month. I still need to do a full review of expenses later in the year.
- Review systems and document standard operating procedures (SOPs) – although I’ll continue to keep this in mind throughout the year, I did complete the main tasks for this that I was hoping to get done. That included overhauling my record-keeping system for coach training, re-organizing all my blog posts and podcast episodes, transitioning all of my editing for video and audio to a new platform, creating a list of annualized tasks for Asana broken down by program, and cleaning up and archiving my digital files.
- Grow weekly and monthly mailing lists – ongoing!
- Host new quarterly retreats in Prolific – the first one is done! I hosted a Q1 retreat at the end of March.
- Host monthly AMA sessions – the first three are done! I hosted sessions on goal setting, radical self-trust, and movement practices in the first quarter of 2025.
New Product Side Quest
I’m really energized about a product idea for something I want to create in 2025. I don’t want to share exactly what the topic is yet until I get a little further along, but my goal is to get a new asynchronous course drafted and released by Q4. Here are the goals and milestones I have for this side quest:
- Outline scripts and draft video talking points – in process! I did get a few outlines done for this project in the first quarter of the year. As typically happens for me, I increased the size of this project by about 3x of what I originally intended it to be. I’ll admit that it’s been hard to carve out time to move this forward, so I’m hoping to do a creative retreat later this year to sprint on this project.
- Record training videos – not started yet!
- Create video transcripts – not started yet!
- Upload videos and materials to course site – not started yet!
- Collect supplemental materials and link in course site – not started yet!
- Create product website – not started yet!
- Launch new product – not started yet!
Running Side Quest
I started running more in 2024 and I’m hoping to do more running in 2025. Here are the goals and milestones I have for this side quest:
- Run a consecutive a mile – done! I challenged myself to do this on January 1, 2025 and I did it!
- Complete a 16-week run/walk plan – I modified this goal to include any running plan that I want to complete. In Q1, I completed a 6-week 5k plan on Peloton that I really enjoyed and I also started another pacing plan that’s meant to improve my speed.
- Run a 5k (3.1 miles) – done! As part of my 5k plan, we ended with a time trial and I was able to run the full 5k without stopping. I haven’t done that in about 10 years, so it was a fun milestone to complete!
- Run a mile in under 10 minutes – not done yet!
- Try at least 5 Peloton running classes – done! Since I did the 5k plan on Peloton, it had a bunch of running classes to complete. I’ve enjoyed finding some new favorite instructors to follow on that platform.
Subscription Side Quest
This is probably the most fun side quest that I’ve set for myself this year. To ensure that I’m making the most of all of our media subscriptions (which my partner also pretty heavily uses), I set some monthly goals for myself related to reading as well as watching television and movies. Those goals include:
- Reading 3 everand books (Q1 included Where the Bodies are Buried, A Thousand Heartbeats, Solitude, The Gilded Cage, The Blood Traitor, The Kind Worth Killing, The Indifferent Stars Above, Livia Lone, and When Women Were Dragons)
- Reading 4 Kindle Unlimited books (Q1 included The Fiance Dilemma, Throttled, The Coppersmith Farmhouse, The Last Hunt, Off the Hook, Variation, Fall With Me, Pretend You’re Mine, All the Sinners Bleed, Dark Roads, Shattered Sea, Fractured Sky)
- Completing 1 Netgalley book (and review) (Q1 included Now It All Makes Sense, Reverse the Search, Be a Warrior in Business)
- Listening to 2 Audible premium audiobooks (Q1 included Beautiful Beginnings Boxset, HBR at 100, The Birthday List, Letters to Molly, The Vacation, and Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin)
- Watching one show or movie from Netflix (Q1 included Bridgerton, You, All the Light We Cannot See)
- Watching one show or movie from HBOMax (Q1 included Mare of Easttown, Juror # 2, Elevation)
- Watching one show or movie from Britbox (Q1 included Des, Traces, Killing Eve)
- Watching one show or movie from Hulu (Q1 included The Patient, Billy and Molly, Paradise)
- Watching one show or movie from Disney+ (Q1 included Explorer: The Last Tepui, Boston Strangler, Lee)
- Watching one show or movie from Apple+ (Q1 included Before, Presumed Innocent, Dark Matter)
- Watching one show or movie from Paramount+ (Q1 included Dexter: New Blood, Criminal Minds: Evolution, Joe Pickett)
- Watching one show or movie from AmazonPrime (Q1 included A Quiet Place Day One, Cross, Becoming Katharine Graham)
Quarterly TBD
This is where I’ll log goals that come up in Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 that I wasn’t anticipating.
- Q1 – All the launches (PM by Design, AMA series, quarterly Prolific retreats, new coach training course, and my new workflow YouTube channel)! Runner Up: Securing a book contract for our edited collection on coaching in higher education.
- Q2
- Q3
- Q4
(I’ll update these in each of my quarterly annual goals debriefs.)
Annual Maintenance Goals
I also have several goals from previous years that I want to keep as “maintenance goals” so they don’t fall off my radar:
- Pay off 35% of our current mortgage amount – on track so far!
- Read 300+ books throughout the year (including my list of 25 books for 2025!) – on track so far!
- Keep up TBR and debrief videos for my original YouTube channel each month – done!
- Log 20k minutes in the Peloton app by the end of the year (in 2024 I was able to log over 23k minutes!) – on track so far!
- Achieve 2,000 coaching experience hours (I’m currently at about 1,800) – this is also on track!
- Maintain my daily journaling practice – done! I’ve journaled every day this year so far.
What are some of your 2025 goals? Are you working on any side quests in the next year? How are things going as we round out Q1?
