By ADRIANA MORGA, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — As the end of 2025 approaches, a viral TikTok trend is helping people achieve their wellness goals: “The Great Lock In” encourages participants to finish the year strong by fully focusing on their life goals from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31.

Many people focus on exercise or eating healthier. But the trend can also help you achieve your financial goals.

There are no set rules for “The Great Lock In.” The phrase “lock in” is popular on social media and it means to focus intensely on a task.

“Something I like about this particular trend is that it’s like New Year’s resolutions’ little sister,” said Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, financial therapist and founder of Mind Money Balance, a financial wellness podcast and blog.

For Julissa Mercedes, 28, one of her lock in goals is to build an $2,500 emergency savings fund.

“Having some liquid cash will make me feel a little bit safer,” said Mercedes, a San Diego resident who works in finance. Aside from building an emergency fund, Mercedes has three other goals: making a new friend, creating a morning routine, and picking up a new hobby.

“The Great Lock In” is meant to help people achieve New Year’s resolutions that might have fallen by the wayside. If you started your year planning to pay down debt by cutting unnecessary expenses, and have yet to follow up on that, this challenge might help you with that goal.

“I think that’s appealing to a lot of people who are just tired of feeling stuck and like they haven’t been able to make any progress,” said Ben Markley, personal finance educator and host of Sketchy Advice by YNAB, a budgeting app.

If you’re thinking of participating in “The Great Lock In,” or if you’re already doing it, here are some expert recommendations to make your financial goals stick:

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Review your finances

To build a goal that will benefit you, it’s essential to review your finances, Bryan-Podvin said. She suggested that you review your bank account and spend some time figuring out how much you earn each month, as well as what you spend it on.

If you made a New Year’s resolution around finances, this could be a good opportunity to check on your progress and see if you need to reassess your approach.

Set attainable goals

When participating in a challenge, it’s best to set attainable goals, Markley said. Sometimes online challenges inspire people to make significant changes, but they can also lead them to create unattainable goals.

“A lot of people can’t sustain that at all, so they drop off,” he said. “Or, they do sustain it, but then they go back to their normal life after the challenge, and their spending habits haven’t fundamentally changed.”

Setting a goal that is realistic in relation to your budget and lifestyle is the best way to make sure you can achieve it by the end of the challenge. Bryan-Podvin recommends looking at “The Great Lock In” as a 5K race rather than a marathon.

Focus on habit-building

To continue achieving your financial goals into 2026, Markley recommends centering some of your lock in goals around building new habits or skills.

For example, if your goal is to stop spending on takeout, focus on building a habit that’s related to cooking.

“Find easy meals that you could cook at home with your skill level so that when you want to eat out, you have that to fall back on,” Markley said.

A great way to help create a habit is to use a habit-tracking tool. It can be as simple as setting reminders on your phone or downloading an app that sends you regular notifications, Bryan-Podvin said.

Create community and accountability

Social media can be a good place to find community support for achieving your goals, whether it’s joining a Facebook group, commenting on creators’ videos, or posting your own content.

As she started “The Great Lock In” challenge at the beginning of September, Mercedes also decided to document her experience on TikTok. Sharing her journey with followers helps with accountability, she said.

“Seeing that people are still watching and keeping up with my content makes me feel like they’re part of the journey too,” Mercedes said.

Reflect on your relationship with money

As you use “The Great Lock In” trend to achieve your financial goals, take a moment to reflect on your overall relationship with money.

“Give every dollar a specific job so that you’re not going on autopilot when you spend, you’re being intentional with your money and making sure that it’s going towards the things you need and the things you care about,” Markley said.

Sitting down regularly, either by yourself or with your partner, and reviewing your spending habits can help with your long-term financial goals.

It’s OK if it’s not for you

If you try this challenge and you find out it doesn’t work for you, that is OK, Markley said.

“You can find something else that works, and it’s no reflection on your character if you don’t pull off ‘The Great Lock-In,’” he added.

While social media challenges can help inspire people to achieve their goals, it’s not worth adding unnecessary stress to your life because of a challenge. Not every trend works for everyone, and there are many other ways that you can achieve your financial goals, Markley said.

The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

Today is Saturday, Oct. 11, the 284th day of 2025. There are 81 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 11, 2002, former President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his and The Carter Center’s work to resolve international conflicts and advocate for human rights.

Also on this date:

In 1906, the San Francisco Board of Education ordered the city’s Asian students segregated into their own school. (The order was later rescinded at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt, who in exchange promised to curb future Japanese immigration to the United States.)

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In 1968, Apollo 7, the first crewed flight of the Apollo program, was launched with astronauts Walter Schirra Jr., Donn F. Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.

In 1984, Challenger astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space as she and fellow Mission Specialist David C. Leestma spent 3 1/2 hours outside the shuttle.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened two days of talks in Reykjavik, Iceland, concerning arms control and human rights.

In 1987, the AIDS Memorial Quilt was first displayed during the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on the National Mall.

In 1991, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee; Thomas denounced the proceedings as a “high-tech lynching” and was confirmed on Oct. 15 by a 52-48 vote.

In 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced that it would admit girls into the Cub Scouts starting the following year and establish a new program for older girls based on the Boy Scout curriculum.

In 2021, Jon Gruden resigned as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders following reports about messages he wrote years earlier that used offensive terms to refer to Blacks, gays and women; Gruden later filed a lawsuit, still pending, against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell, alleging a “malicious and orchestrated campaign” to destroy his career.

In 2024, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, for its activism against nuclear weapons.

Today’s Birthdays:

Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry is 98.
Actor Amitabh Bachchan is 83.
Singer Daryl Hall (Hall and Oates) is 79.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, is 75.
Actor David Morse is 72.
Football Hall of Famer Steve Young is 64.
Actor Joan Cusack is 63.
Actor Jane Krakowski is 57.
Rapper MC Lyte is 55.
Actor Emily Deschanel is 49.
Golfer Michelle Wie is 36.
Rapper Cardi B is 33.

Jaxon Mitchell made his first two varsity touchdowns ones to remember Friday night.

And that was well before a pretty unforgettable ending.

Mitchell, a speedy sophomore who began the year on Mahtomedi’s B-squad, hauled in a 70-yard touchdown catch and scored again on a long kickoff return – all in the second quarter.

Then he and his teammates withstood a furious Cretin-Derham Hall rally that came up just short.

As a result, the Zephyrs – ranked No. 5 in the state in Class 5A – held on for a 28-27 road win at the University of St. Thomas’ O’Shaughnessy Stadium.

Mahtomedi improved to 7-0. The Raiders (5-2) – ranked No. 7 – fell for the first time since a loss to top-ranked St. Thomas Academy in their season opener, snapping a five-game winning streak.

“This one was crazy,” said Mitchell, who moved up to varsity after an injury to another starting receiver last month. “It was a good ballgame. But we hung on to take it home.”

That they did. But not without some awfully tense moments getting there.

After Mitchell’s kickoff return put the Zephyrs in front 21-14 at halftime, they expanded their lead to 14 on a 5-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Mark Graff that capped an over-six-minute drive to start the third quarter.

Mahtomedi had a chance to put the game away late in the fourth, but came up two yards short after electing to go for it on fourth-and-3 at the Raiders’ 7.

That gave Cretin-Derham Hall the ball back at its own 6 with 3:43 remaining and the Raiders – who cut the gap to seven on a 22-yard touchdown catch by Sam Heath earlier in the fourth quarter – marched 94 yards to score on a 10-yard run by senior Ja’Dale Thompson.

“The trust was there on that drive,” said Thompson, who carried the ball 17 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns and added an 11-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.

“We told everybody to pick it up for their brothers.”

But after the Raiders elected to go for two, junior Frank Schwieters initially halted Thompson, and senior Alex Haase helped bring him down just short of the end zone.

“I thought they executed extremely well down the stretch,” Mahtomedi coach Dave Muetzel said. “But our kids kept fighting. They had every reason to hang their heads with some of the things that happened. But they kept fighting, and when you’re hustling and being around the ball, good things happen.”

Good things happened again after Cretin-Derham Hall recovered the ensuing onside kick at the Zephyrs’ 43 with 1:25 remaining. After the Raiders completed a pass on the first play of the drive, junior James Theuninck recovered a fumble at the 29, and Mahtomedi was able to run out the clock.

“They had every reason to hang their heads too, and they kept fighting to the end,” Muetzel said. “Both teams battled out there tonight.”

The wild ending came after the second-quarter show from Mitchell.

With his team trailing 7-6 and pinned deep in its own territory, he hauled in a long pass from Graff down the Mahtomedi sideline and outraced the Cretin-Derham Hall defense into the end zone.

The two-point conversion put Mahtomedi on top 14-7 with 6:02 to play before halftime.

Thompson then scored his second touchdown of the night as the Raiders tied the score at 14. But Mitchell returned the ensuing kickoff over 90 yards for his second varsity score to put the Zephyrs up by seven at halftime.

“It’s going to be hard to top those, but I’ll believe it if he does,” an impressed Graff said. “He’s a pure athlete and one of the fastest guys on this team. He has a lot more touchdowns ahead of him. He’s going to be a great player.”

More of those scores might be needed should Mahtomedi and Cretin-Derham Hall meet again in the section playoffs as they’ve done in each of the past four seasons.

It’s a rematch both sides were itching for after the final gun sounded Friday.

“This one is upsetting, but I know we’ll see them again,” Thompson said.

“This maybe was just round one, and we know they’ll come back harder if we play them again in sections,” added Graff, who threw for 128 yards and a touchdown Friday. “That would be another tough game. They’d be playing hard and so would we.

“It will be a lot of fun if it happens.”

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Back in 2019, grown-up boy band the Jonas Brothers pulled off a rare feat. They announced they were reuniting after an acrimonious split six years earlier, and not only pulled off a terrific comeback tour, they scored the biggest hit of their career with “Sucker,” a chart-topper here in the States and in such far off locales as Australia, Singapore and the Czech Republic.

The brothers’ underwhelming concert Friday night at St. Paul’s Grand Casino Arena suggested another extended break might be in the works.

When large-scale touring started to come back in 2021, the JoBros were among the first to return to the road and played the Mystic Lake Casino Amphitheater that September. In 2023, they embarked on an ambitious, if flawed, outing where they played all five of their albums in full. The tour hit the metro twice in three months, with a truncated show at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand coming across as rushed and the full set at what was then Xcel Energy Center feeling overstuffed and too long.

Also, the hits stopped midway through 2021, with nothing from 2023’s “The Album” and this year’s “Greetings from Your Hometown” making much of an impact beyond the group’s most fervent following.

The current tour is billed as a celebration of the band’s 20th anniversary with a set list of songs from throughout their career. Friday night, it became quite clear that the audience was there for the hits, not the new stuff. It wasn’t until five songs in when the crowd of more than 13,500 noticeably perked up for 2007’s “S.O.S.,” the JoBros’ breakthrough hit. They followed that up with “Sucker,” which earned a similarly lustful response.

But whenever they played any contemporary stuff — save for their summer single “No Time to Talk,” which lifts lyrics and melody from the Bee Gees classic “Stayin’ Alive” — the energy in the room plummeted.

Speaking of energy, Friday’s show was the first time I’ve seen the JoBros play with so little enthusiasm. They barely interacted with each other and spent most the night looking bored or, at times, even angry. The muddled sound, uncharacteristic for this venue, didn’t help matters. The drums, bass and vocals dominated, with every other instrument buried in the mix. Why bother bringing a stage full of guitarists, horn players and backup singers if no one could hear them?

Joe and Nick did chat up some fans and took a few requests, including “Mandy” (an original, not the Barry Manilow song), the first single from their mostly forgotten debut album “It’s About Time.” It was also fun when Nick invited out the Administration, his solo band from 2010, for a mini set. The group includes three former Prince sidemen, Michael Bland, Tommy Barbarella and Sonny Thompson, although Bland wasn’t on hand Friday night.

Given the general mood on stage Friday, the next Jonas we see in town may well be a solo one.

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