Every year since I was old enough to understand what New Year’s was, my mom and dad gathered us as a family on New Year’s Eve so my siblings and I had dedicated time and space to write down our goals for the new year. My mom always changed it up to keep it fun for us. When I was 12-years-old, we wrote down as many goals as we wanted but we had to prioritize three of them:
The next year we stayed on the beach, rang in the new year with smores and made vision boards from magazines:
For the last several years my parents asked us to not only write down our goals for the new year, but also reflect on what we were proud of from the year we were leaving behind. We sat together in 2019 at lunch and planned as a family what we wanted the New Year to look like, together and for ourselves.
I am so thankful my parents established this tradition for us because it makes me realize that they’ve always prioritized our growth, self reflection, a positive attitude, and family support. This year is the first time we won’t all be together, so we’ll get together on zoom. I’ve always been grateful that we’ve framed our new year’s planning and reflection this way, rather than on resolutions or things we wanted to get rid of, because it has allowed us to put real thought into what we wanted to add into our life, or achieve with the symbolic fresh page the new year brings.
I think shifting your perspective and asking yourself, “what do I want to give myself more of this year? What do I want to do more? How can I be more myself?” Is a really powerful way to manifest abundance and gratitude in your life.
So today I’m going to share with you my goals for the new year, what I want more of, and why these things are important to me in 2022.
- MORE BALANCE & GRACE: One thing I noticed about myself in reflecting on this year is that I tend to be hard on myself when I don’t stick to a routine with eating or working out. I get into patterns where I overthink what I’m eating or doing and get disappointed if I mess up or break that rhythm. In 2022, my goal is to be more balanced and give myself more grace when it comes to remembering that food and movement are supposed to bring me joy, not stress.
2. MORE PATIENCE & COMPASSION: On the note of being too hard on myself, I’ve found that sometimes, especially in social situations, I can get myself really worked up and worried. I get hyper aware and stress myself out way more than necessary. In 2022, I want to be kinder to myself and foster more compassion for myself and others. Brene Brown gives a great Ted Talk on this topic that I plan to reference throughout 2022!
3. MORE MYSELF: In 2021, I feel like I was always searching for myself. I changed my hair color too many times to count, played around with my style, makeup, you name it, I changed it. I think at the time, it was what I needed. Now, though, I want to feel more confident in the way I look, feel, and think. To achieve that, in 2022 I want to cultivate my signature style, be more grounded in my appearance, and express myself in a way that is most reflective of who I am.
4. MORE INTENTIONAL: I am, without a doubt, a people person. The people in my life, be it family, friends, or supporters, mean the absolute world to me. In 2022, I want to be more intentional about letting those people know how much I love and care about them. Sometimes, I think I fall into the trap of assuming that people know how I feel about them. But I’ve learned you can’t assume. It makes me feel good when people tell me how they feel about me, and I want to be better about giving that back to the people I love, too.
Whatever your goals are this new year and however you document or create your vision for 2022, I hope it brings each of you more love, more light, more compassion, and more experience to move you closer to the happiest and most fulfilled version of yourself. Happy New Year. <3
