Dec 31, 20213 min read

My 2022 Goals

It's that time of year when all of the tasks and goals we have promised to get to "tomorrow" may actually become a top priority. The last day of the year is a wonderful time to reflect on the triumphs and shortcomings of the past 365 days while celebrating the possibility that next year will be better. So, in this post, I will be doing just that. Before getting into my goals for 2022, let's see how I measured up to my ambitious plans for 2021.

REFLECTING ON MY 2021 GOALS

Main goal: schedule time to work on my passions

At the beginning of the year, I decided my word for this year was balance. Rather than spending every minute of every day reading textbooks, writing endless lecture notes, and trying to be a perfect student, I wanted to set aside time to work on my passion projects so that I never lost interest in life.

I can confidently say that I spent fewer hours on school work and obsessive studying. Although I was still stressed and, per usual, a bit too grade-focused, I made a conscious effort to find time to relax and work on things that used a different part of my brain. I tried and failed on numerous occasions to follow a strict schedule to work on various side projects. After several attempts, I finally realized that I couldn't schedule my sporadic bursts of passion, and it's better not to force creativity.

Subgoals: Unfortunately...this section will be a bit redundant.

ONE: Learn French

I started the year off strong by purchasing an online French course. Unfortunately, once the spring semester started to pick up, I pushed it off until summer. When summer turned into a mess, I pushed it off until the fall. Fast forward a few months, and here I am, knowing about as much French as I did at the beginning of the year.

TWO: Sketch More

Fortunately for this goal, I took a fashion design class in the spring that forced me to sketch regularly. As for the second half of 2021, I temporarily lost my passion for most things, and nothing about life felt beautiful or inspiring enough for me to return to my sketchbook.

My favorite creation from this year:

THREE: Learn how to Sew

I don’t think I touched my sewing machine once. Oops!

FOUR: Maintain weekly blog updates

I was proud of myself for maintaining a weekly schedule throughout the spring. Unfortunately, my summer of complications prompted me to take a temporary break, and I struggled to find things to write about weekly after that point.

MY 2022 GOALS

I've thought a lot about who I hope to become in 2022 and what goals I have for the new year. In all honesty, the events of 2021 stole a lot of my relentless determination, and it’s made me very cautious about making plans and expecting things to happen. So I don’t have any specific goals. As much as I hate to admit it, 2021 opened old wounds that I now need to focus on mending. So taking care of my mental health and wellbeing will be an ongoing focus for this year and something I know will not be a quick fix. 2021 made me realize that there is a fine line between keeping things in perspective and invalidating your feelings. There will always be someone worse off or an experience that seems objectively worse, but those are not sufficient reasons to write off current struggles. I have been living on the wrong side of that line these past few months, so I am trying my best to be patient with myself as I find my happy place.

If all goes well, I will be embarking on an exciting adventure starting in just over a week, and I want to be present for all of it. I have been dreaming of this event for years, and I do not want to be so lost in my own head that I can't enjoy it. So as cliche as it sounds, my focus will be on living in the present moment and improving my mental wellbeing so that this year may be joyous.