Hello to 2022 - another year full of possibilities and of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if like me, you are walking into this year with more than an ounce of hesitation. The year 2021 has been tough on everyone, and I’m sure whatever lies on the road ahead will challenge us in ways that we aren’t expecting.
To manage the road ahead, I’m going to focus most of my energy this year on self-care. Of course, with all that happened last year, it’s essential that I give myself time to rethink and recharge. I ended last year more drained and exhausted than I have ever felt. And I have lost most of the joy and passion I typically derive from many of the things that I normally do. I was constantly second-guessing everything, I was worried that I would screw the relationship up, the girl in my care, and I just don’t feel like myself. And the associated stresses and anxieties from my master's thesis and future career plan are also taking a physical toll.
Clearly, this has to change.
I’ve divided my goals up into three main categories. The Large (L) goals are those that will require a substantial investment of time, resistance, and/or work. They are the marathon goals that will require an almost daily one foot in front of the other effort to achieve. The Medium (M) goals will also require a significant amount of dedication, but they tend to lean more toward the fun side of things and life – so while daily effort is required, the amount of time required to complete them is typically less than required for the L goals. Finally, there are Small (S) goals. These goals require very little time, money, or effort to complete – and because of that, it’s more likely that they will fall to the wayside.
Without any further ado, here are my goals for 2022.
L goals:
1. Over the last several years, even before the pandemic began, I decided that I needed to improve my life-work balance. This year I’m going to find balance by doing as much as I can to support my health and wellness (both physical and mental). Generally speaking, the goal this year will be to say no and reduce the work that I’m doing that isn’t bringing me any sort of joy. While I recognize that there are parts of any job that will be monotonous and frustrating, I feel that I have too many things falling in the monotonous and frustrating bin these days. In fact, many of the other goals have to be re-designed with life-work balance in mind. More movement, less screen time, more social activities, less online chattings, potential travel, reading for fun, cooking, tennis, swimming and puzzles are all ways in which I’m going to reduce the amount of time I spend in work mode in favour of spending it in life mode.
2. As always with previous years, my physical fitness needs to improve. Last year was a relatively bad year because I failed to manage to get outside and keep a healthy diet. Regardless, I can and should do better. With this in mind, I want to decrease my calories intake and increase my physical activity by at least 20%. I also plan to end the year needing new pants and shirts because the ones I am currently wearing will be too large by then. I thought about setting a specific weight loss goal, but in this case, I think it would be healthier to focus less on the actual scale and more on how I’m feeling in my own body. I want to feel stronger, healthier, and more resilient than I do right now. Given how weak, unhealthy, and not resilient I currently feel, any movement/commitment in the right direction will likely feel incredible.
3. Lower expectations, keep disappointment in check. Last year, I had built up too many ideas and goals in my head and then turned them into expectations. I know that changing of mindset is never an easy task. Therefore, I will start by reflecting on past events, and work towards building wiggle room and acceptance for future disappointments.
M goals:
1. With yet another wave of the pandemic unfolding in the EU as I write this, and given the lack of vaccinations in so many countries around the world, I suspect my travel goals will continue to be simple in 2022. If possible, I want to add the UK, China and Japan to my 2022 travel bucket. And if that doesn’t happen, I hope to travel within Germany or even within Munich to satisfy my ever-present wanderlust.
2. Even though I don’t often feel like cooking for myself, like exercise, once I get started I find that my mental state is in a much better place. With that in mind, and with the appreciation received from my friends over the last 2 years, I’m going to once again set a goal to try out 10 new-to-me recipes. I’m still debating if I’m going to stick with my random recipe adventures or if I should create a theme to support this goal – such as focusing on Italian recipes, desserts, or recipes from a particular corner of the world. I’ll keep you posted as to what I decide.
S goals:
1. Reducing my screen time is still an ongoing challenge. I am Youtube-addicted to random funky videos. Since much of my work requires a screen, I’m not suggesting that I will do less stuff in front of the computer. What I really want to do here is to reduce my screen time on the phone.
2. Stay focused and try to avoid multitasking. A lot of people appreciate the ability to multi-tasking, unfortunately, I don't think I am yet the person who can handle multiple tasks without jeopardizing the quality of each.
And there you have it folks – my list of goals for 2022. I might have to add, subtract, or edit these goals because life happens and priorities change. Do I fully expect to complete all of these goals in the year? Hell, no. But I find it helpful to have a destination in mind.
Happy 2022 you all. Peace!
Jan 5th, 2022, Munich.
155-2731-8020