Delightful

Happy New Year, sweet friends. I think we’ve all seen the meme/tweet/whatever going around that says to NOT claim 2022 as “your year,” so I’m certainly not going to do that. However, the time has come to look forward to a new year, and reflect on the year that we’ve had.

A look back at 2021.

2021 was meant to be “extraordinary”. I picked a lofty word because I had high hopes for the year. It was a word that had been recurring around the end of 2020, and it really resonated with me.

Was my year extraordinary? Not necessarily. However, I did finally leave a company where I had worked for almost seven years. It was my comfort zone and my security blanket, and I have left it behind. On to the next adventure (more on that below)!

To be completely honest, I forgot about most of the goals I had given myself for 2021. I had to go back and look at the blog post to see what I had committed myself to. Let’s check in:

• Read 100 books. I actually achieved this one! I read 103 books across the year. See my full recap of everything I read on my book blog, Down the Book Jar!
• Read for 20,000 minutes. I achieved this one too, and read for more than 30,000 minutes.
• Grow my blogs. This is a very vague goal. I don’t believe I achieved it. In fact, I’ve considered giving up blogging quite a bit over the last year.
• Develop some side income. Nope. This didn’t happen. I had grand ideas of selling my wedding binders and merch and all sorts of things, but I have not profited or generated any additional income.
• Workout consistently (at least) 5 days a week. I was close a few times on this one. However, the number on the scale grew, and I got disheartened.
• Journal more. HA! I think I need to give this one up. I’m not a great journaler…

In my head, I think that my book and reading goals were the only ones that I had made. Clearly, that is not the case. I didn’t do too well, but that doesn’t mean I failed. I realized that I didn’t put these goals on my vision board, so they weren’t in my face every day.

Planning for 2022

Inspired by one of my favorite bookstagram accounts, I’ve started choosing a word for each year. It started as an intention for my year. I was super original and chose “intention” as my first word. Since that first year, I have chosen flourish, passion, and, of course, extraordinary. For 2022, I have chosen

DELIGHTFUL

It’s another instance where the word has recurred around me. It is lighthearted, and a way that I really want to live my life. Find delights in the day-to-day, and do whatever I can to delight my loved ones and those around me. If we all strive for a little bit of delight, I think the world will just be a brighter place.

Now, for my goals. I truthfully haven’t thought a ton about my goals for 2022. My word of the year just came to me, and I kind of let that be that. However, I got away from myself a good bit in 2021, so goals will be important for me this year.

• Read 50 books. WHAT?! I’ve cut my reading goal in half?! Yes. I got burned out striving for 100 books. Reading felt like a chore, and I need to get back to my love of reading. I had some really wonderful books at the end of the year that sparked that fire again. Head over to Down the Book Jar for more on my reading goals for 2022!
• Reach 1,000 followers on both Instagram accounts. (If you aren’t following me, please do! @adventures.in.nonsense @downthebookjar) I’ve had these accounts for a few years, so it’s time to see these suckers grow!
• Post at least two times per month on Adventures in Nonsense. I got away from the blog in 2021. I cannot lie. However, it’s time I commit, and really do what I can.
• Reach 10,000 steps per day, every day. This feels like a big step back from “workout 5 times per week”. However, life gets in the way. Sometimes, I can’t squeeze in a workout (and still look presentable for meetings), but I can take Olivia on a walk.

I hope to achieve more in 2022 than I did in 2021. I hope that this year will be delightful, and I hope you know that we are all in this together.

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