It’s already the middle of the year, so it’s time to reevaluate my 2022 goals. This year has been challenging. One thing after another, I’m starting to feel like I can’t keep up.
1 . WORKING LESS
This goal changed. I wanted to work less to spend time with family. I could get a new job and start having consistent hours and the weekends. It feels like I’m working fewer hours than I am still working 40hrs a week.
2. READING MORE BOOKS
Between reading physical books and downloading Kindle Unlimited, I can gladly say I have read 33 books this year. I need to branch out and read books that aren’t just fiction because I’ve started to get bored with fiction, but I also don’t find any other genre interesting.
3. WORKING OUT MORE
I forgot I put this as an actual goal. I know I’ve been mentioning for a while that I have wanted to lose weight every day for the past two years. Well, I finally got myself a gym membership last week. I know I could have worked out at home, but I’ve rarely been the type to find motivation at home.
4. SHOPPING BAN FOR 30 DAYS
May was the month I picked for my 30day shopping ban, and I loved it. I wasn’t stressed about money as much as I usually am. Did I want to go to Starbucks? Hell Yes!!!!!! Did I want to go shopping? Of course! I’m not a minimalist at all. The impulse I have to hit the “buy” button is so intense sometimes. Shopping is how I deal with challenging emotions. But after a while, I kind of just stopped craving those things. I only recently went to Marshall’s to go shopping, and instead of buying clothes like I usually would, I just restocked my skincare.
5. LEARN TO SEW
Going to Ren Faire made me realize how much I needed to learn to sew on a machine. I know how to hand sew. I can hem my pants and fix a loose button but wouldn’t be able to make an entire outfit. I need to learn to sew on a machine. With Halloween around the corner, I’ve decided to make my own Halloween costume. I want to be either Snow White or Donald Duck. I know the outfit will probably be not the best, but it will be practice for when I finally decide to make a better outfit for Ren Faire.
6. SPEAK BETTER SPANISH
I still can’t have entire conversations with my inlaws yet, but I can at least understand what they are saying better. I know more words in Spanish, and I can say complete sentences. I think if I keep practicing, maybe by the end of the year, I could probably start speaking to them in Spanish; I still don’t feel confident in my pronunciations.
7. AT LEAST 50 BLOG POSTS THIS YEAR
I’ve currently written 23 this year and plan to write at least once a week and a blog a day for October and December, so I think I can meet my goal. If I write a blog weekly, there would be 27 blogs alone, making me have 50 blogs. My biggest problem is just staying on top of it. I keep letting my life get in the way.
8. SPEND LESS TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA
I don’t use social media at all, but I may have to retract this goal if I want to be a better blogger and vlogger and eventually start my podcast. I’m going to have to be more engaged on social media. I have to start posting more. I have to promote myself and the blog. I started an ice cream business, and I’ve done nothing even to let people know I have an ice cream business. I can’t have a business if no one knows it exists.
9. MASTER MAKING COFFEE AT HOME
Not only have I mastered making coffee at home, but I’ve also mastered making coffee in my job’s breakroom. I’ve learned how to make my own iced raspberry chai latte. I am super disappointed I haven’t found more make-at-home recipes. Raspberry chai lattes are pure heaven. I have been very good about not stopping for coffee. I drink way less coffee now as well. Before, on an average day, I would drink about 64oz of iced coffee and sugar. Now I drink probably 16oz total.
10. LEARN TO USE MY CAMERAS
I’ve improved using my iPhone to take pictures and record videos. I just ended up helping a friend make TikTok videos and recorded most of them on my iPhone. I still have not picked up my fancy vlog camera. I haven’t touched that camera in years. It feels wrong to pick up that camera for pictures when I know how good it can be to make videos with it.
11. DO SOMETHING NICE FOR MYSELF EVERYDAY
Giving myself time to relax and read has been nice. I allow myself to focus on something other than work or my housing situation. I allow myself not to be stressed or worried. And I’m a high-strung person, so not being stressed is hard. I would love to lie and say I don’t feel stressed when I read, but I do. I get stressed and anxious and second-hand embarrassment when characters do dumb things to when things in the story get intense. I love every moment of it.
12. KEEP A MINIMALIST WARDROBE
As a person who likes shopping for fun but is also stress-shops, not buying clothes has been like not breathing. But I forced myself not to buy clothes and acknowledged that shopping instead of dealing with emotions isn’t what I’m supposed to do. I had to realize I had too many clothes. I forced myself to Marie Kondo my entire closet. It was the throwing away part that was harder than admitting I didn’t want things anymore. I started to feel like a hoarder. Expect less like the little mermaid and more like the A&E tv show.
13. FIX THE THINGS I’VE BEEN NEGLECTING
I’m still neglecting things. My house is falling apart, and I literally can’t be bothered to fix it, which is not true but also like not not true. I will admit the house is a garbage can on fire, so sometimes I don’t see the point in trying to fix anything. Mostly because I know no one else cares how the house is.
14. COOK THROUGH AN ENTIRE COOKBOOK
I ordered a cookbook and was going to do this back in March or April or some month early in the year, and I tried so hard to want to cook through it. The book was boring, and some of the recipes sounded nasty. Like, I literally hate the idea of eating unseasoned boiled chicken, and the fact that it was one of the main dishes didn’t give me much hope for the rest of the book. But today, I was given a new cookbook book that seems promising. So let’s not lose hope just yet. I never planned to cook through an entire cookbook this year to start the self-appointed challenge.
15. EXPLORE MY STATE MORE
I have seen less of California this year than I would like. But I have seen a lot more of Nevada. I’ve already been to Vegas 3 times this year and plan to go again in September. As for California? I’ll get to it eventually.
16. CREATE A BETTER BUDGET
Now that I have a new job, this is more crucial than ever. Because I need to start saving and planning my checks accordingly since I get paid on specific days of the month instead of every two weeks. My most significant expenses are Uber and my phone bill outside of rent. And since I can’t change my rent, I can only try changing everything else.
17. TRY TO BE MORE AWARE OF WHAT I SAY
I must be aware of what I say because I talk to people all day. It’s not always formal, but I’m working on that part too. I’m constantly trying to explain things without sounding condescending or rude. And as a blunt person, it’s hard sometimes. But I take a minute and think of a different way to say something.
18. SAVE FOR A CAR
I hate how I haven’t put a single dollar toward a car. Every time I try to say I get hit with other shit that needs money. It seems like my bills are constantly increasing.
19. VOLUNTEER
I don’t believe in helping others if you can’t help yourself, and for the past few months, I’ve been barely keeping my head above the water. I now have some stability in my life. I will most definitely make a harder effort to volunteer soon.
20. RESTART MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
I need to pull the trigger. I need to set up my camera and just record. It isn’t that hard to make a video. I’ve done it multiple times before. And then I start to feel all weird about vlogging. I’ve cried while talking to the camera, but I feel funny being happy talking to it? Makes no sense.
21. BE OKAY NOT BEING PERFECT
Never!!! No, I’m trying to restart therapy and get to the root of where my perfectionist mentally comes from. Mostly because I’ve always known I’m not perfect but hate myself daily for not being perfect.
22. FOCUS ON MY BOOK
Does it count as focusing on my book if I shelved my original book idea and started working on something completely different? No, oh, okay. Then I guess I will have to work on both books. Maybe that way, I’ll finally be inclined to finish one of them.
Am I disappointed I didn’t complete more goals this far into the year? Yes, because I feel like I should have been more proactive. I make these goals to better myself in some way. I don’t make these goals just for shits and giggles.
On the other hand, I’m not disappointed for not doing more. Things don’t always go as planned, and I’ve had some significant life changes, and those things took priority. My mental health also took precedence this year. And I have to remind myself that my goals have changed. Some things aren’t seen as a priority anymore, and other things are. The things on this list are things I thought I wanted before this year started. I don’t have to force myself to check off every little thing I put on this list.
Most of the goals I’ve completed on this list I didn’t do with goals in mind; they came kind of unconsciously.