Ah, a new year. Another fresh start. The time for planning, goal setting, and making promises to ourselves that we (hopefully) keep is upon us. I’ve given some thought as to what I want this year to encompass and ended up with a list of things (22 things to be exact) that I really want to focus on in 2022. In no particular order – after number one, of course – I now give you 22 things that I’m feelin’ for 2022!

1. Myself i.e., my personal health (mental, spiritual, and physical) – getting to know myself better. Spending more time alone.
2. Relationships – family and friends back home. Having moved 2,000 miles away from them, I’d like to focus more on maintaining/building these relationships from afar. Whether it’s video chats, phone calls, or texts – I’d like to stay in touch more often. So, if you’re family or a friend from back home & you’re reading this, please message me so we can set up a virtual date 🙂
3. Financial stability – because moving from Mississippi to California ain’t cheap, ya’ll! (sorry not sorry for the southern slang)
4. Documentation – writing, photographs, videos, you name it; I want to document it all! In the past, I’ve been the “annoying girl who always films/photographs everything”. Over the years I’ve learned that I’d rather have the documentation even if it means getting unsolicited eye rolls because there’s a difference between oversharing on social sites and wanting to capture memories.
5. Upholding more of a “Just do today” mentality – keeping your eyes on the bigger picture can be motivating, but it can also become overwhelming. Today, right now, this moment – it’s all we truly have anyway. So, I’m focusing more on “just doing today”.
6. Gratitude: I feel it, always, but I’d like to become better at expressing it more often.
7. Romanticizing my life as much as possible. Having the mindset that every little experience is the best little experience ever.
8. Doing more – thinking less: the “perfect” moment in life doesn’t always exist, sometimes we must create it.
9. Giving more, how and when I can – giving doesn’t always come in the form of material items – whether it be compliments, stories, or encouragement, I’d like to give more to the world this year.
10. Leaning further into moments of discomfort – there are always moments in life in which it would be easier to throw in the towel, go back to our comfort zone, and never take the leap again. But sometimes it is crucial that we battle it out.
11. Reading – I haven’t quite decided on a book goal for the year just yet. I’d like to start out easy and aim for one book/month. So far, I’m right on track. The first book of the year I’ve recently completed is a book called “Show Your Work!” written by Austin Kleon. This read was so good that I may even have to write a separate blog to give my thoughts on it 🙂
12. Officially obtain my ACSM Personal Training Certification – I have years of experience in the health and wellness industry – no more imposter syndrome around this matter – it’s happening this year!
13. Creating action plans and following through – I’m talking realistic timelines, due dates, and all of those annoying yet necessary tools that will help me hold myself accountable. I’m naturally a creative, which is overall a blessing, but sometimes a curse. I tend to spend most of my time in my head with my thoughts, ideas, dreams, and goals. I could daydream all day long from beginning to accomplishment. From the outside looking in, it may appear that I “do” a lot (and yes, I honestly do) but admittedly, one of my life’s greatest challenges has been getting these things out of my head, onto paper, and into action. I’ve gotten much better over the years, but this is something I’m really trying to master this year.
14. Listening more – anyone who knows me knows I’m a talker. If you know my family, then you also know that I get it honest (love ya, dad). I really try to be a good listener, but I know I can be better!
15. Watch more movies/tv shows that I haven’t already seen – weird, isn’t it? Usually, people set goals to watch less tv and here I am setting a goal to increase my screen time. I may have a few stories to tell regarding this in the future – stay tuned!
16. Practice the art of being – purely existing in my own space with no set agenda is extremely difficult for me to do. I’m sure many of you can relate to the feeling of constantly needing to be working on something. This can totally be a great work ethic to have for getting things done, but I’ve come to realize it’s also important to have occasional days in which you have zero expectations from yourself apart from existing.
17. Transfer all of my writings from my journals to a secondary location – if I had to guess, there are probably like 13 or more journals that I’ve written in over the last decade or so. One of my biggest fears is that something will happen to them and then some of my best work to this day would be gone forever. So, I owe it to my future self to go ahead and transfer them to a safer spot 🙂
18. Join an elite gym while living in LA – I know, typical, but I’ve always wanted to be a part of one of those really cool gyms that has turf and just overall looks/feels bad a**. So, if you have any recommendations in the Los Angeles area, comment below ❤
19. Get myself to a place in life where I can live 100% alone – don’t get me wrong, having a roommate can be helpful & is even fun at times, but there’s something so freeing about having a place completely to yourself. For me, it would be a new level of independence that I’ve craved for quite some time. I guess this could technically go hand-in-hand with financial stability, but I felt it deserved a spot of its own on the list.
20. Take a trip (or two, or three, or however many I can afford) – From visiting family and friends to traveling to new places for exploration, there are so many experiences I want to mark off my list. Even if it’s short road trips here and there within California, the opportunities are limitless. To all of my LA natives out there – feel free to drop your “must do & see” list in the comments!
21. Practice consistency – This is mostly for my weak areas. I have no problem going to the gym or working every single day, but there are areas in my life where I could afford to be more consistent. One of those areas is social media/my website. I know it “isn’t that serious” (believe me, I have a long history of a love/hate relationship with social media, but over time, I’ve come to accept that it’s just about necessary in today’s world; especially if you haven’t already made a name for yourself in your career field – depending on what that is, of course) So, if there’s anyone out there with some tips regarding this matter, feel free to comment below or reach out to me privately because your girl could use some pointers!
22. Pour more positive energy out into the world – I know, cliche. But it’s true! It may not always be reciprocated, but what’s the worst that could happen? Positive energy comes back to you? I say bring it on 😉

So, what are your goals/focuses for 2022? Let me know below in the comments! I would love to read about them 🙂

xx,

Kait