It’s tiiiiime for another check-in on my 2022 goals! Yay! We’ve just past the mid-point of 2022 and it’s time to take stock of the goals I set for myself and figure out if there are any I want to change. Because why continue striving for a goal that no longer makes sense with my life? This is the downside of making annual goals, of course. Life can change so much in the course of the year, but that’s why I think it’s just fine to edit your yearly goals. You’ll find a few new goals on this list!
Three Big Goals
1) Reduce my sugar intake. I am really not tracking this goal as well as I should. I don’t think I’ve reduced my sugar intake in any meaningful way this year, though. Here are some small goals I want to think about in Q3 to help with this goal:
- Drink one small can of soda (7.5 ounces) per day. NO soda at restaurants.
- Drink more water, goddammit.
- Track how many desserts/snacks I have every day (generally, I’m not a fan of tracking food/calories, but I’m going to do this as an EXPERIMENT and I reserve the right to stop the experiment if it’s affecting my mental health).
2) Save $4,000 for a down payment. No progress made. I’m not even sure I want to own a home at this point. It really is nice not to worry about all the expenses that come with being a homeowner.
3) Reorganize my blogging categories/tags. I set myself a specific goal for each quarter to tackle this massive goal. In Q2, I wanted to work through my blog posts from 2016-2021 and continue listing out each blog post and labeling the posts with a category and some tags. I didn’t quite get this done in Q2 as I’m still working on 2021 blog posts. In Q3, the plan is to come up with a list of 10 blogging categories and to begin recategorizing/retagging blog posts from 2009-2012.
20 Fun Goals
1) Buy a new mattress. Not complete. I have $900 saved up, though! I want to save another $600 or so, which will put me right where I need to be. Probably will get this done in Q4.
2) Complete the 2022 Unread Shelf Project. In progress. So far, I’ve read:
- January (the book you’ve been putting off reading): The English Wife by Lauren Willig ★★★☆☆
- February (a title you couldn’t resist): Wordslut by Amanda Montell ★★★☆☆
- March (a memoir or biography): Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling ★★★★☆
- April (a book by an indie publisher or small press): When She Woke by Hillary Jordan ★★★★★
- May (the shortest unread book on your shelf): The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin ★★★★☆
- June (a book about a journey): Outlawed by Anna North ★★★☆☆
3) Read all of the books added to my Goodreads TBR in 2017. (8/21) I am slightly behind where I need to be for this goal. I need to read at least 2 books per month from this list from here on out!
Columbine by Dave Cullen★★★★★I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy NelsonDNF- All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca SolnitDNFAccidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber★★★☆☆- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity Is Killing Young Women by Jessica Valenti
Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley★★★★☆- Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland by Rebekah Crane★★★★☆- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer
- A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold
- Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
- How to Be a Person in the World: Ask Polly’s Guide Through the Paradoxes of Modern Life by Heather Havrilesky
Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America by Jeff Chu★★★☆☆Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon★★★★☆- Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley
- The Nix by Nathan Hill
- The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord
4) Do 100 Peloton workouts. (44/100) I’m behind schedule with this goal by 6 workouts, which is slightly less than I was behind in Q1. Progress! I am hoping to catch up with my goal of doing 31 Peloton workouts in July.
5) Restart my novel. No progress made.
6) Go back to therapy. Complete! I have been going to regular therapy since April and I really like my therapist.
7) Watch 12 movies standup specials. (3/12) I’m changing this goal from watching 12 movies to watching 12 standup specials because, while I am not a movies person, I do really love a good standup special. So far, I’ve watched 3:
- Taylor Tomlinson, Quarter-Life Crisis ★★★★★ (I cried with laughter from this one. A must-watch!)
- Nate Bargatze, The Greatest Average American ★★★☆☆ (There were some chuckles, but overall, kinda blah.)
- Mike Birbiglia, Thank God for Jokes ★★★★☆ (A bit more heartfelt than funny, but still a good special.)
8) Watch 6 TV series. (4/6)
- Only Murders in the Building – I watched season 1 earlier this year and I’m excited to watch season 2 soon!
- Ted Lasso – I watched seasons 1 and 2 in May/June.
- Abbott Elementary – I just finished season 1, and it was excellent. Season 2 premieres this fall!
- Good Girls – My friend Mikaela implored me to watch this show, and I finished season 1 this weekend. It’s so good!
9) Visit NYC at Christmastime Launch two seasons of our podcast. The trip to NYC won’t be happening since my mom and I booked a cruise for my birthday (which is at the end of November). Instead, I’m changing this to something I didn’t even know I’d be doing 7 months ago: making a podcast! My goal is for us to release two seasons by the end of the year.
10) Get my third tattoo. No progress made.
11) Walk one 5k a month, in a different place each time. (3/12) I am woefully behind on this goal.
- January 17, 2022 – Seminole Park – 2.82 miles with my mom and the dogs in 1 hour, 12 minutes
- February 20, 2022 – Walsingham Park – 3.1 miles solo in 1 hour, 16 minutes
- May 14, 2022 – Crescent Lake Park – 3.1 miles solo in 1 hour, 14 minutes
12) Redo my bathroom. I am slowly making some progress! I finally decided on the shower curtain I want and bought that over the weekend. I’ve also been accumulating other items, like a new shower curtain liner and new towels. I’m hoping to get this done in Q3!
13) Get microdermabrasion or laser treatment—whatever is the better option for dealing with my acne scars. No progress made.
14) Read Moby-Dick Emma Learn how to French braid. I abandoned Moby-Dick and then I abandoned Emma. The classics just aren’t for me. Instead, let’s add a fun goal to this list: I’d love to learn how to French braid my hair this year.
15) Go on one date a month. We’re still at zero. Maybe I should change this goal to, “Go on at least one date this year.”
16) Put an extra $1,000 toward my car loan. (40%) I put $400 extra toward my car loan in Q2, but I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to add another $600 by the end of the year. Time will tell!
17) Make 12 new recipes. (6/12) I’m doing well with this goal so far. It’s a pretty easy one!
- January: Air fryer chicken breasts from Skinnytaste (not a keeper)
- February: Baked mac and cheese from Mom on Timeout (delicious but time-consuming; I need to choose different cheeses + use less topping next time)
- March: Crockpot chicken and gravy from Plain Chicken (tasted great on the first night, but wasn’t appealing as leftovers)
- April: One-pot cheesburger pasta from Budget Bytes (tasted like homemade hamburger helper. Delicious!)
- May: Slow cooker pesto mozzarella chicken pasta from The Magical Slow Cooker. (Lauren posted about this recipe on her blog and I knew I had to give it a try. It was so, so good.)
- June: BBQ cheddar baked chicken from Budget Bytes (it was fine, but not outstanding enough to add to my regular routine)
18) Make a recipe book. No progress made.
19) Cut gluten out of my diet for one month. No progress made.
20) Buy a coffee table and a floor lamp. Complete! I bought a cute coffee table in January and a floor lamp in March.