How we made our and why you should make one
The start of the New Year brings a variety of trends: resolutions, 75 hard, new gym-goers, dry January, TikTok dances, vision boards, and more. When we first saw the vision board building trend (obviously on TikTok), we were a little skeptical. In theory, the idea seemed like a great way to set goals and create an aesthetic for 2025, but whether it was a Pinterest board or a physical board, it felt a little impersonal. Usually, people choose Pinterest pictures or quotes that resonate with them to curate their own board, but we wanted to take it a step further by combining some of our resolutions and aspirations for the year and turning it into a fun challenge. That’s when we stumbled upon the idea of a bingo card for the year.
What is a 2025 Bingo card?
A 2025 Bingo card consists of 25 (well, 24 with the free space in the middle) goals or milestones we want to hit before the end of the year. The idea behind the bingo card was to choose goals that were challenging so that we wouldn’t be able to easily get a bingo. We pulled ideas from our resolutions list or even just the different trips or personal development goals we had for ourselves that came up in conversation. Throughout the year, we want to complete and cross off as many of the different squares as possible with the aim of hitting a bingo (or better yet, a blackout!). Now that you know what the concept of the bingo card is in case you haven’t seen it before, we’re going to try to convince you to make one.
Why should you make one?
We know it’s already been 3 months into the year, but it’s never too late to set goals and work towards creating the best version of yourselves. In college or busy work lives, it can be easy to fall into a rhythm and routine that is hard to break out of. With the constant pressure of deadlines and packed Google Calendars, students and young professionals tend to neglect personal care and growth. How many times have you noticed yourself struggling to list off your hobbies or interests when someone asked you? Or, think back to the last time you were able to truly take a chunk out of your day regularly to read, bake, or meditate simply for yourself? We noticed that setting short-term and long-term goals (not necessarily related to professional accomplishments), helped us focus on our hobbies and intentionally carve out time in our day for ourselves. You cannot be successful and happy professionally if your mental health or self care is suffering or not your #1 priority. A bingo card is something that constantly reminds you about your goals as you can physically create and have it in your room or desk. Also, most of us are fairly competitive and high-achieving, so the idea of crossing off as many of the boxes is enticing and motivating in itself. If nothing else, making one is something fun and cheap you can do with friends to hang out and bond (give your bank accounts a break from the overpriced coffees or extravagant meals)! Since we hope you are convinced, we will break down step-by-step how you can make your own bingo card.
Building it Out
- Make a list of 24 goals (keep a good mix of personal growth, professional accomplishments, and other random things you want to do)
- Trips you want to take
- Any big purchases you want to make
- Job changes
- School milestones (graduation, internships, transfer)
- Fitness goals
- Personal goals (learning something or getting a certification)
- Grab a piece of paper and your favorite craft supplies (part of making a Bingo card is making it actually look good)
- Create a 5 by 5 square grid on a piece of white paper
- Make the middle square a free space or an easy milestone
- We put celebrating our 22nd/23rd birthdays
- Lay out the other goals in the remaining squares
- Try to make it so it is actually difficult to get a Bingo
- You can use Chat to help lay it out even
- Decorate it as you want and make it your own
- Hang up your bingo card somewhere you will see daily!
A glimpse into our Bingo Cards
If you’re one of our close friends, you’ve probably heard us talking about our bingo cards before, but in case you haven’t, we’ll give you some inspiration as you make your own. We have a mix of everything on our bingo cards. Dawson (fully in his food and wine connoisseur era) wants to get his WSET 1 and 2 certifications and has some very ambitious goals for his Beli (check out our restaurant adventures blog here!). Saanvikha is already missing the travel era from 2024 and has trips like Nashville and national parks on her bingo card and is even trying to fly Delta One (which looks VERY unlikely). Also, she really has stayed strong on not wearing sweatpants to class all semester. We also have some similar goals on our respective cards from a Blue Ridge cabin trip, running an official half marathon, and reading a certain number of books by the end of the year.
Believe it or not, we have already started crossing things off – a big one being starting this blog! We really hope all of you will consider making a Bingo card. Both of us have noticed a big change in our motivation and attention to our physical, mental, and emotional health. We spend more time actually doing our hobbies and pursuing our interests and have noticed a change in our overall personal care and happiness. If you do make one, send us pictures of your bingo cards if you make one and thanks for tuning in!
