My 2022 New Years Goals

Happy Friday, my lovely friends!

Time is flying by so fast. It’s hard to believe that we are already two weeks into the new year. In my 2021 reflection, I shared all the lessons I learned from last year. Today I’m sharing my 2022 New Years Goals for both my personal and professional life and I have never felt more ready for anything! I have such a great feeling about this year. I hope that 2022 is the amazing year that we all wish for it to be! 🙂

*******************

Last year, I was a bit overambitious with my blogging goals haha! I now have a better grasp on what is realistically doable and with a complete mindset shift, I’m excited to make the changes that I’ve been yearning to make for the past few years a reality. A few of these goals are a continuation because honestly, most of these take over a year to lock down. Others are new but from a more intentional perspective. It’s always a process and I love mapping it all out here because somehow it just seems to manifest itself.

Last year, I started my word of the year. It was Growth… and grow I did in SO many incredible ways! It was a very healing, transformative and necessary year where I took action on lessons learned from the past. I finally discovered the confidence, belief in myself and unconditional self-love that I had been searching for. I realized why things happen the way they do and how it’s been such a beneficial part of my journey. I became a stronger version of myself and realized that everything I had been looking for was already within me. I also recognized that as I continue to grow and evolve, there are things that I have to leave behind in the process. I’m just so grateful <3

This year, I chose two words – Expand and Transform. I’ve already done a great deal of internal transformation over the past few years but I plan to continue the journey into other aspects of my life. As for expansion, I feel like 2022 is the year that I have been waiting for. I feel like the stars have finally aligned for me and I am so excited to see where this can go.

Outfit Details

2021 NEW YEARS GOALS – PROFESSIONAL

STAY ORGANIZED

This is one that pops up on my list each and every year haha! I have finally come to terms that no matter how organized I try to be, I can’t do everything. I am one person trying to do a million things and this past year, it led to me being overwhelmed and burnt out with no time for anything else. Right now, I’m in the process of creating a new schedule for myself – one that I can easily and realistically stick to. I’ve been tracking my time on pretty much everything and let me tell you, that has been a real eye-opener. I will be heavily working on my time management skills this year and focusing on the things that I truly need to focus on rather than doing the things that I need to do just to get by each day. This means that I’m going to have have to be more intentional with where I spend my time and what I say yes to. Fingers crossed that 2022 will be the year when I get it together hehe! 😉

BALANCE

The last six months have been a huge wake up call in terms of balance. While I love working, I don’t want to continue working 18 hour days, 7 days a week. I don’t have a team… it’s just me. I was left exhausted, unmotivated and burnt out. I took on way more than I could handle and this was a lesson that I needed to learn. I realized that I have a pattern of working myself into pure exhaustion only to take a week or two off to recover. While this has worked in the past, it’s definitely not sustainable moving forward. I absolutely have to make time for myself each and every day – time for relaxation, self-care and hobbies. I think that having a better work-life balance will actually make me more productive as whole. I’m looking forward to seeing how this benefits my life in 2022!

EXPAND MY CREATIVITY

I’m naturally a very creative person but I think that I’ve gotten way too caught up in the day to day of running a business. My inner artist has been dying to come out and I’m ready to explore my creativity further. I have been SO ready to change up my photography style so I will be working on this in 2022. I have also really come to enjoy creating video content, as time consuming as it is. I realized that I’ve been way too hard on myself in the past about not being where I want to be creatively. Photo and video editing have not come naturally but seeing my progress with photography has given me hope for my video editing. I have to gently remind myself that this is a process and “done” is better than perfect. As a perfectionist, this has been difficult for me as I want to share high quality content that I’m proud of. I’m excited to explore this further this year. I also want to make more time for creation – design, music, etc. Whether or not I make this public is still undecided but this is something that I want to do for me. I want to keep learning, growing and expanding in this area.

TRY NEW THINGS

Some days I feel like I’m on autopilot and I’ve been feeling the need for a change for quite a while now. I feel like aspects of my brand have been a bit stale and I’m ready for a revamp. I’ve grown so much as a person over the last few years and I feel like these changes haven’t been reflected in my content. There are so many things that I want to try but I haven’t out of fear and lack of time. If all goes according to plan, you will likely see some very exciting changes this year 🙂

TAKE ACTION

You guys, I hate to say this but…. I am a procrastinator. BIG TIME. I think that this is partially due to my anxiety and partially due to the fact that I take on wayyyyyyyyyy too much at one time. I have SO many ideas and so many things that I want to do but I can never find the time or energy to get them done. I’ve also realized that time is passing by no matter what and if I don’t take action now, then I likely never will. No more excuses, no more procrastinating. I just have to be intentional with my decisions and go after what I want, no matter what anyone else thinks.

DREAM BIG

This is so sad but… 2021 was the first year where I truly felt that I could accomplish my biggest life goals. After many MANY years, I FINALLY found the confidence I had been searching for. Previously, I mistook validation from others as the only way to feel whole and worthy. I bent over backwards to help others achieve their dreams while I stood back thinking that it couldn’t happen for me. I dimmed my own light to make others feel better about themselves but I’m no longer going to apologize for wanting to make my dreams a reality. As hard as the past few years have been, it allowed me to find my self-worth in the most obvious of places… within me. I held myself back for SO long and didn’t realize that I already possessed the magic that I needed. I felt like too much time had passed by but I realize that everything happens when it’s supposed to and I have never been more ready than I am now. I truly believe that 2022 is the year that I’ve been waiting for. This is going to be the year where I set a foundation for the rest of my life.

2022 NEW YEARS GOALS – PERSONAL

PRIORITIZE HEALTH AND WELLNESS

I feel like this has been a constant in my New Years goals posts. The last few years have been such a test for my health and there were many times where I felt frustrated, defeated and alone. Sharing my journey through my blog has honestly been the biggest blessing! So many of you have dealt with similar issues and your stories, advice and encouragement gave me so much hope. I have completely switched my mindset from feeling victimized to feeling grateful that I have had the opportunity to learn and grow from these circumstances.

My mental health is in a GREAT place! This is one of the main things that I worked through this past year and I’ll be continuing to strengthen this part of myself in 2022 and beyond. I went through some difficult and painful situations over the last few years and now that I’m on the other side, I can’t help but feel so proud of myself. For those of you that are in the midst of something similar, I want you to know that it does get better (sending you love!) <3 I feel like 2021 was a very important and necessary year to work on myself internally and spiritually. Now it’s time to work on the external. My digestive issues seem to be in check, which feels so amazing!! I’ve embraced my diet changes and this year, I’d love to set aside more time for cooking new recipes. Physically, I’m ready to start working out again and I’m looking forward to more yoga, pilates, hikes and maybe even dancing! Wish me luck hehe!

BELIEVE IN MYSELF

This is also sad but… 2021 is the year where I first truly believed in myself. For nearly my entire life, I was made to feel worthless and like I wasn’t good enough. I believed in those lies and as a result, I couldn’t believe in myself no matter how hard I tried. I was a good cheerleader and helper to everyone else but didn’t feel that I deserved the same. 2021 brought back the confidence that I had been desperately seeking for decades. I let go of other people’s opinions and for the first time in my life, I truly believed in my own magic and that I deserved every good thing that comes my way. I held myself back with limiting beliefs, a skewed perception of finances and the belief that I wasn’t deserving of success. For the first time, I have compassion and love for myself. And boy oh boy, it was such a journey to get to this place. I learned that I don’t have to be limited by my upbringing and that I really do have the ability to create my future. Now I want to continue to better myself, not because I feel like I’m not good enough or like I have something to prove or like I’m trying to cover a self-perceived “flaw” but because I’m already happy with who I am and know that I deserve even more happiness that comes my way.

BE MORE PRESENT

I’m going to out myself here but this has always been a problem for me. I am VERY future focused – always thinking about the next thing, planning every detail, etc. And what happens when I get to the future? I won’t be able to appreciate it because I’m planning the next thing. I just never stop to appreciate the moment until it’s passed. That was a hard realization. Experiencing the amount of loss that I did in such a short period of time over the last few years has made me truly realize how short life is. Yes, it’s okay to plan and be excited about the future but it’s also okay to savor the here and now and ENJOY life.

It can be especially difficult when working in social media. You are always expected to be “on” and sharing every detail about everything. It can be exhausting. This is usually more prominent when it comes to traveling – you can’t truly relax and enjoy when you’re consumed by your to do list. I used to beat myself up if I missed a post or didn’t do this or that but then I realized… I have to take care of myself. I deserve to enjoy life too and I have to savor those special, everyday moments because you just never know. This year, I want to create more memories, however small they may be. And I want to be fully present for all of them without feeling guilty.

PRIORITIZE MYSELF

I used to think that I had to put everyone else ahead of me… but what I was really saying is that I’m not worthy enough to come first in my own life. That realization stings. I grew up thinking that catering to others and putting their needs before my own was the only way to live. I always wanted to be a “good” person. I enjoyed helping others and bent over backwards to do things for them. However, after a while I grew exhausted and resentful. The very people I put ahead of myself grew accustomed to this and took advantage to the point where I had nothing left to give. It’s not their fault though… it’s mine for allowing this. Do I not deserve the same compassion, care and understanding that I give to others? Putting yourself first is NOT selfish… it’s self-care and self-love. I had to regain my confidence in order to be courageous enough to say “no.” I have to fill up my tank before I can fill up someone else’s. No one else is going to prioritize me except for ME.

BE MYSELF

This is another thing that I’ve been working on for a few years now. For the most part, I am myself and my authenticity is something that I pride myself on. However (and I know we ALL have these moments), sometimes I find myself being held back because I have this idea in my head of how I’m supposed to be. I just don’t want to disappoint anyone. I think that introducing video content has really helped in this aspect. For so long, people viewed me through photos and made their own assumptions. When you watch videos, I feel like you can truly to get a feel for someone… and it helps to create a more genuine connection. In this industry, it’s easy to be influenced by your peers but by doing so, you don’t stand out. I love being an individual and I love that I’m different but I feel like a lot of people don’t like this. They want what’s trendy or cool. And I’m just not that. I realized that I will never be the “cool girl” or the “trendy girl” but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything to offer. I’m learning to give myself grace. We are all different for a reason and I’m learning that by embracing this, we can unlock so much more potential in ourselves.

HAVE MORE FUN

I’ve become quite serious over the last couple of years… and I don’t even know why or how this began? At my core, I’m silly girl that loves to laugh, make jokes, and dance like a fool. I LOVE trying new things, especially if it’s something unexpected (like axe throwing!). And I’ve been told that I’m a fun person but I feel like I’ve sort of lost a bit of that luster over the years. Life does not always have to be so serious… and I don’t want it to be. This year, I want to add more fun experiences into my life. Typically this would be involve travel but we all know that it probably isn’t the best or most dependable option at this time. And that’s okay! This gives me more room to be creative!! I want to dedicate more time this year to not only creating fun experiences for myself but I also want to cultivate new talents and skills. After all, life is short – have more fun!

I hope you enjoyed my 2022 New years goals!

What are some of your 2022 New years goals? Do you have a word of the year?

Also, I do have my annual survey up! I would LOVE to hear your thoughts. It’s 10 questions, completely anonymous, takes less than a couple of minutes and would help me so so much! Take the survey HERE <3

********************