What I Counted as Achievement in 2025—Even When It Didn’t Look Like One

Do you remember a year that changed the direction of your career, health, or relationships, one that quietly set you on a path you either chose or ran from? 2025 was that turning point for me—a year where I shifted enough gears to finally see the direction I wanted my life to take. I established systems that pivoted me from guilt trips, emotional spending, and chaos. Many of these actions weren’t deliberate at first, but they slowly nudged me toward the life I had envisioned years ago.

These are not the typical achievements one can count and remember easily; but slowly unfold while you live your life. When I sat down at the end of last month to reflect on everything that happened, I suddenly felt so grateful. My heart was full, and I truly felt proud of myself. But these changes don’t happen overnight. They’re built quietly, through small actions that slowly shape who we become.

Here are seven such achievements that created a ripple effect on my thoughts, behaviour, and ultimately, the direction of my life.

Reclaiming My Attention Through Reading

Every year, I get into a habit of setting a reading challenge on Goodreads. With so much digital media and content streaming at hand, the number of books that I would ideally read reduced to barely three every year. However, in 2025, I managed to read 7 books. I accidentally curated a list of life-changing books, mostly self-help, but deeply eye-opening. These books reshaped how I approached my work, priorities, and attention.

Choosing Privacy Over Performance

I deactivated and uninstalled Instagram in October 2025, and I have still not returned to it. This was a desperate measure I had to take when I realised how doom scrolling was disrupting my sleep, hogging all my free hours, and most importantly, my attention. I barely missed anyone's updates, and neither did I feel the need to post every aspect of my life for everyone to see. I took photos of what I liked but kept them private. I had lost the feeling of having something private to oneself; something that is your secret, your own thing, which you don’t need to share with anyone else. A quiet pleasure you can relish in your free time, scrolling through your phone’s gallery and recollecting those moments.

Learning To Feel Content

Uninstalling Instagram catapulted several other mindset changes that I didn't think were possible for me. Because I started to see fewer influencers and almost zero updates from people I followed, I became content with what I owned in terms of clothes, decor, and the luxuries of life. I also became content with the number of trips I planned instead of just racing in an unspoken competition between peers and friends on who travelled the most. My husband and I only took 3 planned trips within the country without relying on a credit card. I stopped buying decor or home furnishings to make everything look Insta-worthy. I started becoming comfortable and happy with what I had around my home and reminded myself that my home is not an art gallery for others to praise, but it's a haven for me where I connect with every item I have.

Breaking Free from the Validation Loop

I finally stopped waiting for validation from everyone. Growing up, I had this incessant need to receive compliments from my mother for everything I did. I accidentally do this in the present too whenever I talk to her. While my mother barely gave me the compliments, encouragement or praise I deserved at different points in life, I was subconsciously projecting those expectations on others whose opinions should have never mattered to me at first place.

I realised I was setting myself up for disappointment by seeking validation where it was never guaranteed. We get stuck in this validation cycle and do things that don't serve any purpose for us. I’m still learning to let it go.

Making My Health Non-Negotiable

I embarked on my health journey around mid 2024 when I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. In 2025, I became consistent with my exercise routine and started a slow adaptation toward healthier food habits. I completely changed my relationship with food, and I stopped labelling any food item as good or bad. Tracking my calories and macronutrients helped a lot in including even the "junk" food in my diet. Progress is extremely slow for me, but the system I developed made me feel good about myself, helped with my sleep, and my confidence in general. My health ultimately became a non-negotiable aspect in my life.

Rebuilding My Relationship With Money

I also got myself out of the scarcity mindset, which tied me to my money and my belongings for my whole life. I was hoarding clothes, books, and groceries as if I could not buy them tomorrow. Instead of growing my money, I spent it all on my family and my shopping addiction. But this year, I had a major shift in how I thought about my finances and my habits. I had to do one of the hardest things I have ever done - learning to say no to my parents. I stopped overspending on items they should never have expected me to buy for them, and in doing so, I began setting healthier financial boundaries. When I sat down to calculate just how much I spent on things I don't even use or could have lived without, the numbers were mind-boggling. I could have used that money toward the down payment of a luxury apartment. With careful and deliberate planning, I am now able to save 38% of my in-hand salary, which feels extremely liberating and mindful.

That shift taught me the quiet power of consistency and delayed gratification.

Investing in my education and career

This last achievement isn't limited to 2025. Every year, I intentionally set aside some money for my education and career development, and it has consistently paid off in meaningful ways. For someone like me who has literally risen from the trenches, education and knowledge hold more value than anything else. I know firsthand how much power it can wield in fast-tracking your career or even increasing your confidence.

In 2024, I completed my master's degree. In 2025, I completed a business strategy program from a prestigious B-school, which expanded my knowledge beyond my work domain. While these milestones didn’t attract much external recognition, they mattered deeply to me.

As a society, we have certain accomplishments crowned at the highest level, like buying a home, car, having a kid, and so on, which will give you the maximum amount of well-wishes, while the quieter accomplishments go unnoticed. But that shouldn’t stop you from pursuing what truly matters to you. What counts, in the end, is staying aligned with your own goals and values.

What are some of the atypical achievements that you've accomplished in 2025? Please share in the comments. I would love to read them.

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