Public health work is demanding (emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and professionally).
2025 has been a year for public health. That does not mean you can’t hit your goals in 2026.
Public health professionals spend their days preventing crises, advocating for communities, navigating underfunded systems, and responding to inequities and disparities.
But when it comes to your own goals? They often fall to the bottom of the priority list. You delay. You feel guilty. You don’t know where to begin.
It’s not because you don’t care or there’s a lack of drive. It’s because you’ve been conditioned to prioritize everyone else first. And it’s easy to get stuck in that loop.
Intentional goal-setting gives you space to breathe again. To get clear again. To design your life and career proactively.
As we close out another intense year in public health, this is the moment to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what actually matters. And intentionally chart a path for the year ahead.
Let’s walk you through a simple but powerful framework to plan meaningful, grounded, and sustainable goals for 2026 (based on the workshop I facilitate for public health professionals last year).
And if you want real accountability and support, you can join us for the live Goal-Setting Session on Dec 21st.
Why Public Health Professionals Struggle With Goal-Setting (And Why It’s Not Your Fault)
Before we plan anything, we need to name the truth: Public health creates unique barriers to clarity, personal growth, and consistency.
- Chronic stress + emotional labor – We carry the weight of communities, systems, and inequities.
- Instability in the field – Grant cycles, funding shifts, workforce reductions all make long-term planning difficult.
- Mission-driven burnout – Many of us feel guilty prioritizing ourselves.
- A wide, confusing career landscape – Public health has hundreds of paths which can be overwhelming.
- Working in crisis mode – We adapt more than we intentionally design our careers.
If you’ve felt stuck, unfocused, or inconsistent in your goals – nothing is wrong with you. That’s normal.
You’ve been navigating survival, not strategic growth. That ends today.
The beauty of intentional goal planning is that it helps you take back control.
Start With Reflection: What Did 2025 Teach You?
So many people skip reflection and jump straight into resolutions, but reflection is the foundation for everything else.
Let reflection be your anchor.
Ask yourself:
Your Wins
- What were your top three accomplishments?
- What surprised you about what you were able to do?
- What’s one thing you didn’t think you would achieve that you were able to achieve?
Your Challenges
- What patterns do you want to break going into 2025?
- What’s something you want to more of and/or less of in 2026?
- What were your toughest moments and what did they teach you?
Your Fulfillment
- What drained you?
- What energized you this year?
- Where did you feel most aligned? Least aligned?
Reflection is not about judgment. It’s about understanding your patterns, your wins, and your growth opportunities.
Reflections give you clarity. Clarity gives you insight. Insights shape better goals.
When public health professionals skip reflection, they often set goals based on stress, pressure, or urgency instead of their values and purpose.
Insight helps shape better decisions.
Reconnect With Your Purpose Using The Ikigai Framework
Public health attracts purpose-driven people. But purpose often gets buried under burnout, overwhelm, and survival mode.
Ikigai – a Japanese concept meaning your reason for being – helps you realign with what truly matters.
In public health, your Ikigai sits at the intersection of four questions:
- What do you love?
The causes, activities, and populations that energize you. - What are you good at?
Skills, strengths, and natural talents. - What does the world need?
The inequities you care about, the public health gaps you want to address. - What can you be paid for?
The real roles and opportunities that align with your value.
Where all four overlap, that’s your Ikigai. It’s where your most aligned goals will come from.
It doesn’t mean you need to change careers. Usually, it simply helps you realign how you work, set better boundaries, or pursue roles that honor your strengths.
Most public health professionals have never been taught to center themselves in this way.
Understanding your Ikigai is powerful for public health professionals because:
- You already carry strong values.
- You already care deeply about impact.
- You already have a heart for communities.
Ikigai gives you language for the kind of work you should be doing, not just the work you fell into.
Clarify Your Values Before You Create Goals
Values act as your compass (it gives you direction).
A goal that isn’t grounded in your values will always feel forced, heavy, or hard to follow through on.
Choose the values that matter most to you right now:
- Equity
- Impact
- Learning
- Freedom
- Family
- Rest
- Creativity
- Leadership
- Service
- Stability
- Faith
- Community
- Health
Now rewrite your top 5 in your own words.
Values bring direction, not pressure.
They help you choose goals that feel aligned.
Create a Vision for 2025
Once you’ve reflected and found clarity on your purpose, you can create a vision that is grounded and realistic.
This is the picture of the life you want to live.
Journal on questions like:
- What is your vision for 2026?
- Which values do you want to lead with?
- Which areas of your life need the most focus?
(Career, health, relationships, finances, creativity, community involvement, fun/play)
A strong vision paints a picture of the life you want to live. It also helps protect you from setting goals that drain you or pull you off-purpose.
When public health professionals write their vision, they often realize:
- “I want more balance.”
- “I want better boundaries.”
- “I want to grow in a specific direction, not just react.”
Your vision becomes the north star of your goal planning.
Turn Your Vision Into SMART Goals That Move You Forward
This is where intention becomes action.
Every goal should be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
Three examples for public health professionals:
Example 1: Burnout & Well-Being Goal
Dedicate at least 30 minutes daily to an activity like journaling, movement, or meditation for the next 3 months to reduce stress and protect mental health.
Example 2: Professional Development Goal
Complete one professional certification (CHES, CPH, PMP etc.) within the next 6 months to strengthen your credentials and open new opportunities.
Example 3: Community Engagement Goal
Mentor one student or volunteer with a community based organization at least once per month.
When you combine reflection → purpose → vision → SMART goals, you get a system that supports sustainable growth instead of reactive decision-making.
SMART goals translate intention into action. And make your plan real.
Bring Your Goals to Life: Focus, Support, and Momentum
Instead of going deep into the full prioritization and 7-day plan (that’s what we’ll do in the live session), here’s what you need to know:
- You don’t need 10 goals. You need the right 2–4. Focus prevents overwhelm and burnout.
- Name the support you’ll need. People, tools, time, structure, community, resources.
- Build early momentum. Choose one tiny action you can complete within the next 48 hours.
That’s all you need right now.
We’ll build the systems, prioritization plan, and accountability structure during the live session because that’s where transformation really happens.
Build Accountability Into Your Process
You can have clarity, purpose, and goals, but without accountability, it’s easy to fall back into survival mode.
Goals fail when accountability is missing…not because we lack discipline.
Accountability for public health professionals can look like:
- A supportive community
- Monthly or quarterly check-ins
- An accountability partner or group
- Tracking progress – templates and systems
- A coaching call, mentorship, or monthly professional check-in
In public health, community is everything. We thrive when we feel supported and seen and your goals are no different.
Personal Note from Omari
There was a time in my public health journey when I felt completely unsure of myself.
I started in this field in 2017 not really knowing much. Just knowing I cared about people, marginalized communities, health equity, and systems change. I didn’t have a roadmap, I didn’t have connections (I didn’t even have a good LinkedIn), and I definitely didn’t have the confidence I have now.
But I kept learning, showing up, asking questions, and sharing what I was figuring out along the way.
Two years later, before I graduated my MPH, I earned a $60,000 community health fellowship – my first big breakthrough. That moment changed everything. It showed me what was possible when you stay curious, stay committed, and stay open to growth and opportunity.
It was around then that I began sharing publicly about public health, careers, and my own journey. And over time, that transparency helped hundreds of people feel less alone, more informed, and more empowered in their paths.
14 months after that fellowship, I stepped into my current role at $90,000 – while continuing to build The Public Health Millennial and support thousands of students and professionals navigate this field with more clarity and confidence.
I didn’t start with all the answers. I built my path through intention and small, consistent steps. One step, one goal, and one decision at a time. And you can, too.
That’s why this goal-setting session exists: to help you create a year of clarity, confidence, and momentum in your own public health journey in 2026.
And if you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure of your next step – you are exactly who I had in mind when I created this session.
Join the Public Health Goal-Setting Session (Dec 21st)
If you want to walk through this entire process live – with structure, support, and a community of public health professionals – join our 2025 Goal Planning Session:
Date: Sunday 21st December
Hosted by: The Public Health Millennial
What you’ll get:
- Guided reflection exercises
- An Ikigai alignment activity
- A 2025 vision-setting session
- SMART goal creation with real-time support
- A community to keep you accountable
Your work matters. Your goals matter too.
Let’s make 2025 the year you show up for yourself the way you show up for the world.