Did I achieve my 2024 goals?

Nope, but I achieved something much more valuable.

Last year, on the 30th of December, Guven and I sat in a pub in London and answered this question: “What do I want to celebrate in December 2024?” 🍻❄️

Of course, there were many things that should have been on the list. But ideally, there should have been three things, so I needed to prioritize. In the end, I came up with a list of four:

1. Exercise at least once a week throughout the year (no excuses!) 🏄‍♀️💪

2. Reaching 100K subscribers on my YouTube channel 📷🎥

3. Getting X$ investment for my startup idea and hiring two full-time employees 🚀💼

4. (🤭 Sorry, I am still not ready to share this goal but believe me, I am very much looking forward to sharing this with everyone 🙂)

Did I achieve these goals?

Only one of them: I have exercised at least once a week throughout the year, and I am very proud of achieving this goal. I am 33 years old and feel like I am the best version of myself, both physically and mentally. 🏋️‍♀️✨

But what happened to the other three goals?

Let’s start with YouTube. I started my YouTube channel in July 2023 and consistently posted YouTube videos in the last 17 months. My YouTube channel currently has just over 50K subscribers, which is unbelievable. Although this number is below the goal that I set for December 2024, it is still a big number. But more important than that, in 2024, I have posted at least one video per week and tried to improve the quality in each video. This is actually what really matters. 🎯🙌

Next, my startup idea, Zinde. It hasn't received the investment yet, and zero full-time employees have been hired, so I didn’t reach my goal. But Zinde has achieved huge milestones: It has a great team of ambitious part-time employees 🫶; a significant number of partner gyms and studios in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir 🤝; and a surprising number of recurrent customers who are excited to use Zinde🚀. And maybe more importantly, I did my best for Zinde in 2024, and every day, I am just grateful to give a chance to Zinde. 🙏🌟

About my last goal for 2024: I am still not ready to share it publicly but trust me, I also did my best to achieve it.

So, from my goals for 2024, I have learned a much more valuable lesson: " 🌟💡

I can only control my actions, not outcomes.

Indeed, this is why I only “achieved” my first goal: exercising at least once a week. 🏋️‍♀️✨ This goal was action-focused, not outcome-focused. As I have full control of my actions, I achieved this goal. 🎯💪

On the other hand, my other goals were outcome-focused, meaning that whether I achieve them or not depends not only on my actions but also on others. 🌍 Specifically, I can control how frequently I post a video 🎥, but I cannot control whether people watch it or not 👀. Similarly, I can control how much effort I spend on Zinde ⏳, but I cannot control how fast people adopt this new idea. 🤷‍♀️

Set action-focused goals instead of outcome-focused goals.

With this learning, I asked myself, “What do I want to celebrate in December 2025?”

1. Exercising at least once a week throughout the year 🏋️‍♀️✨.
   No excuses—walks do not count in 2025. It should be activities like yoga 🧘‍♀️, weight training 🏋️, running 🏃‍♀️, surfing 🏄‍♀️, skiing 🎿, etc.

2. Giving time to myself before reacting to something 🧠.
   Not reacting with my emotions; instead, giving enough space to myself, my anger, and frustration before taking an action.

3. Having 15 hours of deep work every week 🕒📚.
   For the project that I genuinely care about, without any distractions (no emails ✉️, no social media 📱).

What do YOU want to celebrate in December 2025?

Cheers,

Sidika