The Question I Ask Every New Year That Changes How I Set Goals

Vera Jo Bustos | Coach VJ
Dec 23, 2025
4 min read

The Mindset Shift Every High Performer Needs: The Dream You're Living

The Question I Ask Every New Year That Changes How I Set Goals

Every year I sit down on New Year’s Eve to do two things:

Reflect on the current year
Create a plan and a system for the coming year

This is a celebration, and I try to set the mood to make it feel that way. I’ll settle in with a glass of wine or a cup of hot chocolate (depending on my mood), set my Spotify playlist to something upbeat and light, and give myself the next 90-120 minutes to reflect and create.

The first thing I do is look back at my highlights and goals from previous years. It’s fun, and sometimes a bit shocking, to see how much both my goals and my life have changed. What once felt like a big goal is now a daily habit, like writing. Something I thought I really wanted, like a specific car, makes me chuckle when I look back at it now.

Perspective has a way of doing that.

If this is your first time doing something like this, here’s where we start.

2025 Year in Review

To keep it simple, I make two lists: personal and professional.

I start by going through my camera roll and writing down highlights from the year.

Where did I travel? What moments still bring a smile to my face? What memories stand out? Who did I spend meaningful time with that I know I’ll look back on and cherish? (Like my nephew spending a week with us during the summer in Boise.) What challenges did I navigate? (Like a flooded garage caused by a broken water heater to discovering you’ve been wearing the wrong shoe size for the last decade.)

Then I shift to my professional life.

What projects am I proud of? What clients, deals, or opportunities stand out? When did I step outside of my Dead Zone? What moments stretched me emotionally, mentally, or physically? (Like navigating your first-ever panic attack.)

As you move through these moments, the highs and the lows, the exciting and the uncomfortable, you begin to see how much ground you’ve covered in the last twelve months. With some distance, it becomes clear how both the smooth moments and the messy ones have contributed to where you are now.

That awareness sets the foundation for what comes next.

I’ve adopted and adapted a goal-setting framework from Sahil Bloom because it provides structure that most goal-setting frameworks lack. I’ve added one element to his system, informed by my work in performance environments where pressure, fatigue, and identity are always present.

That addition is your Burn.

The Framework

The framework has five connected components:

Your Burn (My addition) Big Goals Checkpoint Goals Daily Systems Anti-Goals

Each one matters. None of them works alone.

1. Your Burn: The Internal Fire Behind the Pursuit

You Burn comes before goals.

Your Burn is the internal fire behind why the pursuit matters in the first place. It is what gives effort meaning when motivation fluctuates and conditions are imperfect.

Your Burn answers questions most people skip:

What makes this pursuit worth it, even if the outcome does not go my way? What pulls me back into the arena when applause fades?

What part of this work feels deeply personal and deeply mine?

Your Burn is not a metric. It is not a title. It is not external validation.

Your Burn is the reason the climb matters at all.

2. Big Goals: Defining the Summit

Big Goals come from Sahil’s framework.

These are the clear, measurable outcomes you are working toward over the course of the year. They define the summit you intend to reach.

Big Goals matter because they provide orientation. They give the effort a destination. They help filter decisions and commitments.

Big Goals work best when they are rooted in your Burn rather than comparison. When they reflect on what excellence looks like for you, not what success looks like relative to others.

This is where many high performers drift without realizing it.

Success is based on comparison with others. Excellence is measured against your own potential.

Excellence asks quieter, more demanding questions:

Do my habits, routines, and actions match my intention to be better tomorrow than I am today? Are the habits I have today aligned with the future I say I want?

Excellence turns attention inward. It places responsibility where growth actually happens.

3. Checkpoint Goals: Structure the Ascent

Checkpoint Goals also come from Sahil’s framework.

They are the intentional markers between where you are and where you are going. They break a long climb into attainable segments that allow momentum to build.

Checkpoint goals reduce overwhelm. They create feedback. They allow recalibration without panic.

High performers who struggle with follow-through often skip this step. They aim high and rely on willpower to carry the load. Structure carries it far more reliably.

4. Daily Systems: Earning Confidence Through Action

Daily Systems are where belief is built.

They are the small, repeatable actions that move the work forward regardless of energy, mood, or circumstance. They are simple enough to sustain and intentional enough to compound.

This is where I see the most significant gap in athletes, coaches, and executives, myself included. Goals get named. Systems never get installed.

Consistency builds self-trust.

Self-trust sustains performance.

Daily Systems turn intention into identity.

5. Anti-Goals: Guardrails That Protect the Climb

Anti-Goals come directly from Sahil’s framework, and they matter deeply in performance environments.

Anti-Goals define what you are unwilling to sacrifice along the way. Presence with family. Physical health. An identity that does not depend on outcomes.

They act as guardrails that keep the climb aligned with your values.

The summit loses its meaning when the ascent costs the things that made the pursuit worthwhile in the first place. Anti-Goals preserve what gives the work depth and longevity.