Blogmas Day 23.
I read a tweet the other day that said something along the lines of “Where are all the vision and goal-setting memes and quotes in the run-up to 2022? 2020 and 2021 have made us all mighty quiet…”.
Ain’t that the truth. The atmosphere of uncertainty about our current situation and the future is not conducive to making bold statements and intentions about the upcoming year.
Call it habit, call it fool-hardy optimism but I still feel the need to make some sort of declaration for 2022.
Is it because I feel pumped? Not particularly. That said, the practice of blogging over the last three weeks has had the unexpected side-effect of making me take stock of the last year and appreciate so much. This gratitude has inspired peace and hope so, yeah, let’s look ahead and hope and plan for the best.
So how did that work out for you?
Around this time last year, myself and my good friend and podcast co-host, Shell, set some goals for ourselves for 2021 in episode 3, series 3 of Life Begins. Despite the year 2020 was – or maybe because of the year 2020 was, we intended for 2021 to be better with 3 goals each. I’m not here to chat Shell’s business but did I achieve my goals?
Lol, no.
So How Do I Avoid This in 2022?
I definitely don’t want to punish myself for missed targets – that does nobody any good. But “If nothing changes, nothing changes” as they say so I want to approach things differently whilst also being a bit kind to myself.
One of the books I read this year was Atomic Habits by James Clear. In fact, I read it twice. The premise is that it’s not huge decisions that lead to huge change, but small, everyday habits that when practiced consistently can dramatically improve your life.
The last thing I want to do is pile pressure on myself at the end of a difficult year – nor would I want to impose that pressure on anyone else – but in an email I received today from Mr Clear, he posed the following question:
“What is something meaningful you can accomplish in the final week of the year?
The year isn’t over yet. End on a high note”
The reason I like this question is because it doesn’t put all the pressure to change and transform on the 1st of the 1st. This date literally only comes around once a year so why not spread it about a bit? You can start at any time and on any date. Why not start now?
I’m on holiday so my default setting is to defer any changes until I return home in January but I’ve gone and blimmin’ challenged myself now.
Challenge accepted.
Grace Smith Speaks 