This year, I decided to draft a shorthand list of my goals that I can refer to throughout the year. Some of these are tied to longer-term strategies and plans, but most are just for fun.
I also left four slots empty for goals that I want to add during each quarter of the year. I’m trying to add one additional goal per quarter as they occur to me throughout the year.
Now that we’re wrapping up the first quarter of the year, it’s time to check in on my goals and see how things are going.
Here are my 22 goals for 2022 and the progress I’ve made so far:
Reading Goals
- Post at least two videos per month to my YouTube channel related to books and reading (you can check out my YouTube channel here). So far, so good. I’ve posted 8 videos about reading to my YouTube channel in the first quarter of the year. I’d like to do some extra reading vlogs in Q2, but for now I’m focused on a TBR video and debrief video each month and that’s working well.
- Read over 150 books throughout the year (see what I’m currently reading by connecting with me on Goodreads). I’m definitely on track with this! I passed 50 books read in March so I’m over a third of the way complete with this goal as Q1 wraps up.
- Read the 14 books in Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series. This goal is also on track. I’ve read three books in the series so far (just shy of 2,000 pages) and I’m really enjoying it! My favorite part is talking through the books with my partner since this is one of his favorite series.
- Read the 17 books in Louise Penny’s “Inspector Gamache” series. This goal is also going well so far. I’ve read five of the books in this series in Q1, so I’m on track to complete the series this year.
- Complete an alphabet reading challenge each month to read more books that I already own (see more about this challenge in this YouTube video). This has been one of the most fun parts of my reading life this year! In January I read books that started with “T,” in February I read “F” books, and March was books that started with “M.” This has been a great method for diversifying my reading and working my way through books that I’ve had in my digital library for a while.
- Contribute to a little free library in my neighborhood. I haven’t done this yet, but I did locate a couple of little free libraries within walking distance and I’ve been collecting a small stack of books that I can share. I’m planning to complete this goal in Q2.
- Visit all of the 26 different branches of the Denver Public Library and choose my favorite one. So far, I’ve visited two of these branches that are closest to me. Hopefully I’ll make more progress on this goal in Q2.
- Maintain my daily Spanish language practice (so that I can eventually read fluently in Spanish). I’ve been able to do this practice daily, but I’ve mostly been reviewing what I already know versus learning new vocabulary. I’d like to devote a little more time to this as the year continues so that I can increase my knowledge over time rather than just maintain the knowledge I already have.
Goals that support my mental, physical & emotional health
- Experiment with an art journal (and fill the 240-page sketch book I bought for this purpose). I started the year with some play in my art journal, but my engagement has been pretty sporadic. I plan to do more of this experimentation in Q2.
- Meditate daily for at least 15 minutes. Some days I’ve done this, but it’s definitely not happening every day. I think that finding a more consistent time to engage in meditation will help me to make this into more of a regular habit.
- Complete at least one 30-day yoga challenge. I haven’t completed a 30-day challenge, but I have been doing yoga daily since early March. It’s been a wonderful morning routine to add back into my day and I’m looking forward to more daily yoga in Q2.
- Explore at least five different walking trails in the Denver area. No progress on this goal, but I’m going to blame the colder weather. I’m excited to work toward completing this goal in the spring and summer months when it’s a little warmer out.
- Walk 10k steps per day the majority of the days in the year (183+ days). This is definitely a work in progress. I’ve hit 10k steps only 19 days this year, so I’ll definitely be working on adding to that number in Q2.
- Walk or run over 1000 miles throughout the year (on average, a little less than 3 miles per day). I got out of the habit of treadmill walking and running this quarter, but I was able to log about 55 miles before I switched over to a more steady yoga practice. I know I’ll keep adding to this number throughout the year, but I’m already thinking that 1000 miles may be a little optimistic.
- Walk a half marathon. Hasn’t happened yet, but still looking forward to doing this in 2022.
Goals with my partner
- Pay off 15% of our mortgage. As we wrap up Q1, we have paid off just shy of 5% of our total mortgage, so we’re almost a third of the way to this goal. I’m really happy with this progress and that this goal is on track.
- Double the amount in our current savings account by the end of the year. We’ve been able to add a little to our savings, but we also learned of some additional updates that we need to make to our house that may impact this goal. I’m glad that we have the savings to do what we need to, but I may adjust this goal later in the year once we get all the estimates for the work we need to do.
- Watch all the Star Trek movies with my partner. Progress is being made on this goal as well. We have watched two of these movies so far and have 11 left to watch. I’m lucky that my partner can provide a lot of context since I know very little about the characters or story lines of these movies.
TBD
- TBD for Q1 — I decided to add an additional reading goal to try and read 22 books for each month of 2022. So far, I’ve been able to do this for January, February, and I’m also on track for March!
- TBD for Q2
- TBD for Q3
- TBD for Q4
How are your goals for 2022 going so far?