*This post was written in May 2022
Each year, like most Americans, I start the New Year off with three things. A long list of New Year’s Resolutions, the best intentions, and a feeling that I am going to accomplish it all this year. Sadly, just like most people, I ended up failing for years. In 2021 I established a new way to tackle these resolutions and have fun along the way.
In 2021, I decided I wanted to improve myself instead of making promises to myself and breaking them every year. It’s difficult to realize you want something badly and convince yourself you’ll work towards it, then fall off the wagon as soon as the ride gets bumpy. I know I’m not alone in this feeling and experience but it’s one of my least favorite characteristics about myself.
By 2021, I was fed up and realized I had to work toward it like I meant it. Big changes freak me out and typically don’t stick. I made a couple of drastic changes, to begin with, but my overall success lay with my second approach. I worked on a plan to chip away at one or two goals at once throughout the year. The results I had were amazing! And achieving one goal here and there gave me a sense of accomplishment and a drive to keep going.
I went from never achieving a New Year’s Goal to achieving 16 out of the 21 I set for myself!
I honestly couldn’t believe it! It was such a good feeling!
I’m trying to continue that trend and wanted to share the goals I’ve set for myself and why. I’ve listed all of my goals in one list below but I also broke them down into sections for viewing purposes. This helps me make sure that I’m focusing attention on each aspect of my life instead of pursuing one part. Each goal has a description containing why I want it and how I’ll gauge if I achieved the goal.
2022 Goals:
- Travel outside the country in some capacity
- Write and self-publish 2 books
- Stay consistent with YouTube
- Run a marathon
- Create and maintain a website for your books
- Create and maintain a website for your blog
- Dye my hair black
- Move out of the house and into your own place
- Work on facing your biggest fears again, specifically your fear of heights
- Save $20,000
- Read 100 books
- Take self-defense classes/martial arts classes
- Earn a Bachelor’s Degree
- Volunteer on a big project
- Climb a mountain
- Spend money on something self-care-wise (facial, nails, etc.)
- Go hiking or backpacking for a couple of days
- Gain confidence
- Get to 130 lbs. and get toned
- Find your fashion
- Go on a date
- Attend a live concert
Extra Goals:
- Hit 4 of your financial goals in the Huntington Banking app
- Run with my running group all year
- Donate my hair
- Donate to the preschool
- Get to $500/month in passive income
- Take a road trip through at least 4 states
- Become a great Editorial Assistant
- Plan a vacation with family
- Hang out with Kenya’s crew
- Go out to 4 parties
Career/Academics
This section is pretty straightforward. All of the goals in this category should apply to your current career or career aspirations. If you are pursuing higher education, goals pertaining to your academics can be placed here.
My career/academic goals for 2022:
- Earn a Bachelor’s Degree
- Become a great Editorial Assistant
Earn a Bachelor’s Degree:
I’ve been pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree for 3½ years now and have taken classes at 6 different colleges. I know it sounds crazy! Between the pandemic, tuition and financial changes, and other issues I was forced to move several times. I finished my Associate’s Degree last year (thank you 2021 goals!) and had time to look for a place to finish my Bachelor’s Degree at. I found a good institution in May and began classes that same month. While I may not get my degree this year I’m excited to see how close I’ll get.
Become a great Editorial Assistant:
This goal is a bit difficult to quantify but I want to try so that I know I’ve accomplished it. There are two areas I want to improve. One, learn as much as possible and, where applicable, apply it to my own personal life. This is so that I can prove I not only learned this action but know how to apply it. I also function as a Social Media Manager, so goal number two is related to that aspect of the job. I want to increase their social media presence across all social media profiles and generate a revenue stream for each.
Qualifications/Education
All of your goals in this category should revolve around intellectual self-improvement outside of your career or the classroom. Continuing your education is key, and it should be something you enjoy.
My qualifications/education goals for 2022:
- Read 100 books
- Take self-defense classes
Read 100 books:
One thing I love doing is reading and I believe it’s an underutilized way to continue to learn more even if you don’t have the financial means for continued education at a college or university. I already have a quantitative goal of wanting to read 100 books this year but I want to take it a step further by saying that I want 25 of those books to be non-fiction books. They can be on any type of topic be it historical events, self-help, medical journals, or even how-to books but I want to expand my knowledge.
Take self-defense classes:
For the longest time now I’ve known that I learn best through kinesthetic practices (aka doing it myself) but I always hesitate to sign up for and attend classes. Even if it’s something like self-defense that I’ve been wanting to do since 7th grade AND it would benefit me in more ways than one. By the end of this year, I want to have taken at least 2 self-defense classes of some kind to fulfill this goal.
Finance/Savings
All of your goals here should pertain to your finances and savings goals.
My finance/savings goals for 2022:
- Save $20,000
- Hit 4 of your financial goals in the Huntington Banking app
- Get to $500/month in passive income
Save $20,000:
I’ve been fortunate to get the opportunity to work two great jobs that allow me to bring in enough money to save enough to reach my savings goal last year and I’m hoping to do it again this year. I also am hoping to catalog my journey in a sense so that I can show anyone who is struggling to save how I did it successfully.
Hit 4 of your financial goals in the Huntington Banking app:
I feel like this goal is specific and self-explanatory but for my own records, I’m going to put some details. I bank with Huntington currently and through your account on their website/app you can set financial goals including what it’s for, when it’ll be due by, how much you need to save, etc. so then Huntington can help you plan how much you need to save and if you’re on track to complete your goal in time. At the beginning of 2022, I had 11 financial goals submitted into my account to reach. They all vary in dollar amount and deadline but I’m anxious to meet them all. We’ll see how many I achieve in 2022.
Get to $500/month in passive income:
For some, this may seem like a lofty goal but two things have driven me to add this goal to my 2022 list. The first is that after reading so many financial books last year I am convinced that not only can I feasibly pursue this goal of passive income but that I will be happier having a flow of money that doesn’t rely on a company. The second is that at my full-time job where I function as a Social Media Manager I already bring in over $500/month for the company through their various media streams. Because of these two things I feel pretty confident that I can achieve this goal (hopefully this year because it will take time to achieve).
Health/Beauty/Fitness
Whatever fitness, health, or beauty goals you have should go here. Examples of these are attaining clear skin, running a race, or staying consistent with your medication. I make this more of a self-love category and this category is typically the one that holds the most goals for me.
My health/beauty/fitness goals for 2022:
- Run with my running group all year
- Run a marathon
- Dye my hair black
- Get to 130 lbs. and get toned
- Find your fashion
- Spend money on something self-care-wise (facial, nails, etc.)
Run with my running group all year:
In high school, while I was a part of many groups, I was first and foremost a runner. While running isn’t widely viewed as a group/team sport I realized how much I had relied on that team atmosphere when I lost it after moving to college. For this year, even though some of us don’t even live in the same state, I’m partnering up with a couple of girls to set goals and hold each other accountable. The best part is we’re also making it like a pledge-style goal which means for each mile we do, we’ll donate money to a charity. Everyone wins!
Run a marathon:
As a distance runner, one of the goals that are always there is to run a marathon. I keep telling myself that I’ll do one eventually but I’m not getting any younger and this will hopefully play into my other running goal and give us something to work towards while completing that goal too.
Dye my hair black:
One thing I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do is dye my hair. It seems like a silly thing to want to do but put off for years (I mean hair grows back so what’s my hold up?), but it seems like such a big deal. And since I came from a fairly strict family it would be. But this year is all about doing things that I think would make me better in some way.
Get to 130lbs. And get toned:
I’m going to sound like such an old lady when I say this, but when I was in high school I was 120-125 lbs. for almost all four years without trying and I’d like to get back to that. It’s not hard to maintain that weight when you’re running 6 days a week with a whole team to hold you accountable. But now that I’m without a team I’m a bit more lax. When I left, similar to a million other people who did a sport in high school, I gained a bit more weight. While the gain didn’t bother me too much, the fact that it was mostly fat did. Combine that with an unhealthy amount of social media models living rent-free on my timeline and boom, this goal emerged.
Find your fashion:
This, in combination with a few of the other goals, is meant to be a confidence boost now that I have a style and a color palette that I enjoy wearing. My goal is by the end of the year to have purged my closet of articles that don’t adhere to my choices and lifestyle now and replace them with pieces I know I’ll love.
Spend money on something self-care-wise:
Self-care things such as massages, salt baths, facials, manicures, pedicures, and the like were all perceived as frivolous wastes of money by my family growing up. While I completely understand that sediment, as I grew up thinking that too, I’ve since come to see the benefits. While I’ll probably back out, reschedule, or try to talk myself out of it multiple times, I’d like to try spending my money on just one self-care thing this year and see where it goes from there.
Hobby/Entertainment
Anything you enjoy doing and want to dedicate more time to pursuing that doesn’t fit in the other categories should go here.
My hobby/entertainment goals for 2022:
- Stay consistent with YouTube
- Publish 2 books through Amazon KDP
- Attend a concert
- Create and maintain your blog website
Stay consistent with YouTube:
One social media I’ve never put much time into is YouTube although I’ve had some exposure to it through work and other engagements. This might sound naive, but I’ve always wanted to start a channel because it looks fun. I’ve also always thought that starting a YouTube channel would be a great way to gain confidence. Not only with presentation but public speaking, which is a difficult fear to overcome.
Publish 2 books through Amazon KDP:
Knowing that writing is a passion of mine and that I feel most like myself while knee-deep in research and manuscripts made adding this goal a no-brainer. After telling myself year after year I’d finish a book and self-publish it I finally completed that goal in 2021. I’m proud of myself for completing it but also embarrassed it took me so long when it’s something I truly enjoy. Regardless, now that the proverbial ball is rolling I want to maintain that momentum by raising the goal to two completed books.
Attend a live concert:
As much as I love live music, I haven’t made an effort to attend any events in person lately. By “lately” I mean in the past 2 years. Having a goal of attending ONE live concert seems doable.
Create and maintain your blog website:
Overall, I just want to be able to write more and share thoughts and ideas with others. Hosting a blog and keeping it updated seemed like the perfect solution. I’m not completely sure what my schedule will look like posting-wise but staying consistent is a good starting point. And ironically, posting this article is helping maintain that goal.
Travel/Vacation
Everyone needs a break at some point and planning out exactly what you want your vacation to look like can help you achieve it, and for work to be more bearable.
My travel/vacation goals for 2022:
- Climb a mountain
- Take a road trip through at least 4 states
- Visit another country
- Go hiking or backpacking for a couple of days
Climb a mountain:
Another goal I’ve always had that I honestly don’t know where it came from is this one. I don’t have any aspirations to conquer Everest or any major mountain but I do want to climb a good-sized one this year. What’s a good-sized mountain? I’m not sure, I’ve never climbed a mountain before but I’ll let you know after this year.
Take a road trip through at least 4 states:
I’ve only taken one non-family road trip and it was FANTASTIC. I can’t believe it’s taken me another 2 years to put it on my goal list. This time I want it to be a bit longer than my last one, hence the 4-state specification. I also should put here that I don’t want any of the states to be prior ones that I’ve traveled through.
Visit another country:
A goal of any aspirational traveler. I’m hoping to accomplish this in some form this year although I might not be able to based on wait times for passports. Whether or not I accomplish this I WILL be saving for it this year to make it more realistic for the next year.
Go hiking or backpacking for a couple of days:
I love hiking and going for long walks in any natural landscape. Seeing other people on social media post about their backpacking trips or the gorgeous scenery they found on a hike makes me want to leave society behind and live in the woods. I figured I could compromise by going on a short trip.
Family/Love
This category, like many of the others, is pretty self-explanatory. Anything having to do with family and your love life should go in here.
My family/love goals for 2022:
- Plan a vacation with family
- Go on a date
Plan a vacation with family:
My family has traditionally done a family road trip to visit our extended family every summer since I can remember. Just like everything else, the pandemic shifted and canceled plans on us making our last few trips not as traditional. Since this is most likely the last year we’ll be able to do a family vacation I want it to be a good one.
Go on a date:
I don’t want to get too personal here but I haven’t really given myself a chance with anyone in a while. I did the traditional “I’m taking time to work on myself” bit and now I think I’m ready to look for that something. Or rather someone. No expectations here other than giving it an honest shot this year and listening to my heart rather than my head in this area.
Friends/Personal Connections
This category is for the more platonic connections in your life, catching up with friends, meeting new people, etc.
My friend/personal connections’ goals for 2022:
- Hang out with K’s crew
- Go out to 4 parties
Hang out with K’s Crew:
Simple explanation. I met her and her friends in 2021 and I enjoyed hanging out with them so I want to continue hanging around people I like being around.
Go out to 4 Parties:
Even though I don’t go to college in person anymore, most of my friends do and as immature as this may sound, I miss getting all dressed up and going out with friends to listen to good music and dance until my feet are sore.
Spirituality
This category is specific yet broad at the same time. Whatever spirituality you practice should go in this category whether it be religion, yoga & meditation, or even just working on your own mental state.
My spirituality goals for 2022:
- Work on facing your biggest fears again, specifically your fear of heights
- Gain confidence
Work on Facing Your Fears (Heights):
The previous year I worked on facing my fear of needles and I was able to successfully draw blood, donate blood, and get my first tattoo. I have never felt that strong and confident and I want to continue to tackle my fears to make myself a stronger person. I hope I can make conquering the fear of heights fun because there are so many things I want to do that include height.
Gain Confidence:
Unlike some, confidence doesn’t come naturally to me. I don’t like feeling out of place, especially in social situations so trying more new things and meeting more people will hopefully help me gain a bit more confidence overall.
Giving/Contribution
This category is for any and all types of giving whether it be through time, money, or material objects.
My giving/contribution goals for 2022:
- Volunteer with GIVE
- Donate my hair
- Donate to the preschool
Volunteer with GIVE:
This goal doesn’t have to specifically be fulfilled with this organization but I’d like it to look something like how they structure their volunteerism. Traveling, volunteering, learning, and all in all, making the world a better place.
Donate my hair:
I’ve done this before and I loved the way I felt afterward so I figured I should do it again since I was planning on cutting my hair anyways. It’ll just be a bit shorter than I originally planned. My only fear is that the wig with my hair will end up at the scene of a crime and I won’t have an alibi for that night. I guess I’ll have to cross that bridge when I come to it.
Donate to the local preschool:
I used to work at a local preschool and even though I couldn’t stay (purely for financial reasons), I try to do what I can to help them. It helps them by giving them supplies and books they need and it helps me feel better too.
Other
This category is for any and all goals that you feel don’t fit into any of the other categories.
My other goals for 2022:
- Move out of the house and into your own place
Move out of the house and into your own place:
I’ll be honest, I can afford to live on my own and I almost did move out at the beginning of the year but there were two things stopping me. One, it’s much more practical financially (I sound like an adult so much typing that) since I was still attending school and most of my paycheck was devoted to paying tuition. The second, and arguably the bigger driver is that I am trying to figure out what I want to do after school and while I’m not sure what it’ll be I do know where. Well, more like where NOT, and it will not be in my hometown so I’ve been putting off getting a place because buying a place is equivalent to putting down roots and I don’t want that here.
