As I mentioned in my previous post 2021 recap, in 2021 I set two major goals of finishing my PhD and getting a book deal. In 2020 I set a single goal of being happy. I could go back further into the past and list every single goal I set, but that's not the point of this post. Instead of setting goals, this year I decided to try something new.
Vision board created with canva.
Firstly, I sat down and made two lists. One contains all the things that I want to start doing in 2022, and the other consists of all the things I want to stop doing.
Start: saying no, exercising regularly, setting boundaries, writing more, doing things that make me happy, following through, being assertive.
Stop: pleasing everyone, watching series, going with the flow, self-sabotaging and then indulging in self-hatred, compromising, accepting everything.
After listing these things (and taking a good look at them) I tried to envision how I want my life to be by the end of 2022. So I took to canva and created a desktop wallpaper version of a vision board. This board contains "the vision" of the following:
Work-life balance
Daily writing
Slow living
Strong physical and mental health
Significant progress in my PhD
Taking more pictures and videos of moments that matter
Spending more time in nature
Reading more books
These are not specific goals, rather a vision of a lifestyle. This board sums up everything I want to be in 2022. So instead of setting goals based on a quantitative metric, e.g. write 1 book of fiction, 4 chapters of PhD, I want to focus on the systems I have to build to be the person who will write a book of fiction and 4 chapters of PhD this year. The systems I have to built to be who I want to be.
That doesn't mean I won't be setting minor goals on my way there. But milestones and deadlines will only exist to make my goals a little more specific and timebound, and not to make myself more anxious than I already am.
Who do you want to be in 2022?
Comments