How to win in 2025

The Secret to Achieving Your 2025 Goals

As we step into 2025, many of us are setting big goals and dreaming up bold resolutions. For me, the past year has been a journey of growth - not just in business, but in my personal life too.

One lesson that I learned which I’d love to share with you as you shape your goals, is this: achieving success, whether it's in fitness, business, or life, isn’t about reinventing the wheel. It’s about doing a few simple things exceptionally well, every single day.

A while back, I made a commitment to get in shape and get stronger. I wasn’t happy with how I felt physically, and I knew something needed to change so I could keep up with my tamariki and still beat them on the playground obstacle course. So I paid a personal trainer to teach me what I needed to do. He told me it was bloody simple; eat less energy than what you burn each day, and lift weights at least 3-4 times a week. And don’t take a cheat day.

So I trusted him and did just that. I started tracking my kai using an app, I exercised 5 times a week for around 45min - 60min, and committed to hitting 10,000 steps a day. The formula wasn’t complex or flashy - it was simple. But it required focus and discipline, every single day and that was hard.

After one day, I saw absolutely no change. After two or three days, still nothing. But after a few weeks, I started to feel a bit better. That small change encouraged me to keep going, believing that after a long enough period, it would be unreasonable not to see some results, right?

What surprised me was how quickly the results came. It didn’t take a year - it took about three months of consistent effort to feel stronger, more energised, and more confident. Within about 8 months, I’d dropped 18kg and was feeling in the best shape of my life.

The secret? Consistency. I didn’t skip steps or get distracted.

In the beginning, my goal felt exciting and my plan was new and full of potential. But after 50 days it was boring af - I knew I just had to stick with it, even though it felt repetitive.

This process reminded me of something Alex Hormozi often talks about.

At the start of any goal, we’re full of excitement and energy - we see all the potential and believe we’re unstoppable. That’s called uninformed optimism, because we don’t know about all the bad stuff yet, we just see the upside.

But soon, reality sets in. We learn how hard it really is, and we hit informed pessimism. Now we know about reality and the struggle. The excitement fades, the effort feels exhausting, and the goal seems impossibly far away. At this point we feel like sh*t and we fall into the valley of despair. This is usually where we quit, and convince ourselves that what we really need - is a new goal to focus on.

We get distracted by something new and shinny and we become an uninformed optimist all over again, stuck in a cycle of starting but never finishing.

The real challenge - and the key to success - is pushing through that despair and doubt. Because when you do, you force yourself to figure it out. You get better and you start to see progress. This is called informed optimism because know we know how hard it is (informed) and you feel optimistic because you’ve figured out how to get through the crappy stuff and now you’re seeing results, so you feel optimistic again! Yay!

And then, finally, you WIN.

This cycle isn’t just about fitness or business -  it applies to anything worth doing in life.

Success isn’t about avoiding hard times - it’s about embracing them. The hard times teach you the most. They force you to grow, refine your approach, and stay focused when others quit.

I’m not here to tell you how you should tackle the year ahead. You do whatever makes you happy and fulfilled :)

But as I go into 2025, I have a simple plan, to do just a few simple things, to the absolute best of my ability, every single day, for a long time until I get the results I want. It’s not going to be complex, in fact it’ll get boring. But that’s what it will take for me to hit my goals. The hardest thing for me will be not allowing myself to become distracted by shinny new ideas full of ‘potential’ (uninformed optimism).

Anyway, whatever 2025 looks like for you, e hoa, I hope you smash it and it’s your best year yet! What I can promise you is that good kai, shared with your favourite people will help - and we can’t wait to serve you soon!

Ngā mihi,
Anton