22 Goals for 2022

Ah goal setting, a love-hate relationship as we feel excited to start fresh but disappointed when it’s January 3rd and we’ve already broken the streak. If you feel like you need a refresh, some motivation, or just a read into someone else’s goals, then this is the post for you.

There’s no rule that we have to set and start goals on January 1st or we’re doomed for the rest of the year. It’s never too early or too late - every day is an opportunity to be better than you were yesterday, but there’s also nothing wrong with just existing and seeing where life takes you. If you feel best when you have all your goals planned out prior to the start of a new year, then do that. If you could use a month or two to recenter and you feel ready now to set some goals, then go for it. If you just want a change and it’s a random Thursday in the year, then make that change. For the next couple weeks, I’ll be sharing some typically “start-of-the-new-year” activities (vision boards, mood boards, etc.) on the Twenties by Design Instagram, because I definitely needed some time to settle into 2022.

After some on-and-off mulling over my intentions for this year across a span of several weeks (because they don’t always come to you when you schedule out an hour to do goal planning), here are 22 ideas that I came up with for my year. I tried to categorize them to some extent so I could reflect throughout the year on what areas I might want to pay more attention to going forward.

Lifestyle/Personal Growth

1. Do a random act of kindness every month

2. Develop and stick to a morning and night routine

3. Decrease non-work screen time to under 2 hours a day

4. Declutter my physical and digital spaces (I have a blog post in the works about this topic!)

Hobbies

5. Read 75 books

6. Start a reading journal

7. Learn to DJ (bought a deck in 2020 but had to put it on hold last year)

Career/Education

8. Become published (somewhere … this is a pretty abstract idea right now, but if anyone has any ideas or tips that you’re willing to share, I’d love to know!)

9. Go back to school or make a significant career move

10. Take at least 10 Skillshare classes

Health

*content warning for anyone who is sensitive to fitness/exercise/food/body-related talk, please don’t hesitate to skip past this section to #16 ♡*

I didn’t want any health goal this year to be tied into weight, appearance, etc. (though there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and I’ve definitely done that in the past). I wanted to focus on feelings - feeling strong, energized, challenged, pushed out of my comfort zone (safely!); eating more balanced meals, drinking more water, etc. I’m open to talking about my relationship with body image if this is something people are interested in, so let me know in the comments or in my DMs/email if so! But for now, these 3 fitness goals are focused on little challenges that I arbitrarily set for myself. I think they’re realistic without being too easy or too much of a reach. And the nutrition goals are just tiny lifestyle changes that I want to test out for myself.

11. Run a 5K under 25 minutes (honestly, I’m not a big fan of running, but it’s been one of my most consistent forms of exercise/body movement for years, and I think it’d be fun to challenge myself)

12. Get my splits (this might be the closest to a reach goal - pretty sure I want to do this every year, but I’ve actually started consistently adding stretching/yoga to the end of my workouts so I feel more confident that this could be possible this year)

13. Hold a plank for 2 minutes without struggling (this is really tied in with a larger goal of just developing a stronger core, especially lower abs)

14. “Fresh not frozen” - my tagline to remind myself to shop for more natural, simple ingredients rather than resorting to frozen or processed meals. I don’t really ever restrict myself in what I eat, but I could definitely improve in eating a more balanced diet (especially more fruits, veggies, and protein)

15. Drink more water!! I bought a half gallon water bottle with hourly markings to remind myself to drink more water. So far, I haven’t really used it, BUT I can change that starting today so I’m going to go fill that up now.

Recreation/Social

16. Make a San Francisco/Northern CA bucket list and check off at least 50% of the items

17. Visit 3 new cities, 2 new states, and 1 new country (if it’s safe to do so)

18. Prioritize seeing friends in person as much as possible, from weekly hangouts (game nights, movie nights, brunches, etc.) to trips to visit them or travel together

Finances

19. Become a conscious consumer (this one stems from purchasing way too much in 2020 and 2021 … clothes and books are my weaknesses!! I’d love to talk more about this one in a future blog post and get more ideas from all of you on ways we can become more conscious about what we buy)

20. Monetize Twenties by Design because how cool would that be!!

21. Actively use Poshmark (or some other resource) to resell clothes - this goes along with decluttering and being a conscious consumer

22. Budget, save, and invest (a vague one, but I’m working on specifying numbers - I think this is a big one for all of us in our 20s and beyond, or just anyone with financial responsibility)

It’s likely that these goals may evolve throughout the year, some of them no longer relevant or some of them taking more priority over others. I’ll do a check-in at the middle and end of the year to share my thoughts and my real-life experiences with these.

I think it’s great to set goals to give yourself focus and direction, especially when you’re feeling all over the place (I certainly have been for the past couple of years honestly). There’s good pressure (like setting high, but not impossible-to-meet, expectations for yourself that help you grow as a person), and there’s not-so-good pressure (like the kind that often accompanies perfectionism and blurs the line between berating yourself and challenging yourself to improve). Find your sweet spot and don’t be afraid to change your path along the way to better suit your needs at any given moment.

Trust yourself and design the life you want to live.

P.S. If there’s anything I can do to make these posts or even the website more accessible, please leave your feedback below or email/DM me. Inclusivity is super important to me, so I’d love to make any adjustments to ensure this content can be accessed by all!