I’m finding it harder and harder to believe that it is going to be 2022. Not because I want to stay in 2021—heavens no—but it just seems like it was 2019 yesterday and now it’s going to be 2022.
Like, what?
Time is flying, and I hope it’s flying towards something good. Something really good.
I feel like we could all use a dose of the really good this year, don’t you think?
I’m trying to set myself up for some really good with some *resists the urge to say really good again* goals.
If you’ve been here for a little while, you might recognize some of these goals. Sprinkled amongst the new ones are some classics, some spin offs, and some whose incomplete status has been haunting me for a while now.
So, with that being said, here are my 17 goals for 2022:
Also, if you happen to be new here, I set 17 because that’s my favorite number, not because I am a monster who avoids whole numbers.
1) 100 days of yoga
Kicking it off with a good old fashioned 100, I thought I’d set this yoga goal. I always feel better when I do yoga regularly. My body feels less stiff and my mind feels less jumbled and chaotic. So, I thought I’d add a little extra inspiration to stay consistent.
2) Celebrate lillördag (little Saturday)
Over the summer I came across this post, that asks the question are you celebrating lillördag yet? In case you are curious (like I immediately was), lillördag is Swedish for “little Saturday” and the celebration of lillördag is the practice of treating a weekday like you would a Saturday (i.e. going out to dinner, seeing a movie, splurging on dessert, etc.) I love this idea of bringing some weekend spirit into your weekdays, so I’m going to add this celebration to my weekly routine. Typically, lillördag is celebrated on Wednesdays, as it’s the halfway point, so I’ll use that as a guideline but not a hard boundary.
3) Donate blood once per season
I have really come a long way with this goal and I’m proud of that. In 2018, one of my goals was to try to donate blood once, and now I’m striving to do it four times in the same calendar year! Hopefully I can make it a seasonal tradition and donate many times in the future!
4) Volunteer somewhere new
For the past few years I’ve had “volunteer (at least) 5 times” as a recurring goal on this list. While I’ve been able to complete it each year, I have (mostly) done so with the same two organizations. There’s nothing wrong with that, but in the interest of learning and growing, I’m going to challenge myself to volunteer somewhere completely new this year! I am already anxious about it!
5) Visit a new city and/or state
I have had issues in the past setting goals to visit specific places, as plans can get crazy and schedules can get crazier. So rather than lock myself in to one specific destination, I just want to challenge myself to see a new place. I have a couple of plans that might help with this, but I’m excited to see what spontaneity the year holds!
6) Take two more writing classes
Due to lack of time and bigger commitments, I had to take a break from my UCLA Extension writing classes, which made me sad. But I’m hoping to get back in there this year. I only need a few more classes to earn my creative writing certificate, so hopefully by this time next year I’ll be (at least) two classes closer to that!
7) Read five more books on this list
I mentioned this list of inspirational books in my 2021 Goals Wrap Up post. The article it originated from has since been taken down, but I kept the list and want to keep working my way through it. Let’s read five more!
8) Wear everything in my closet
I feel like every time I clean out my closet I always leave things behind that I’m never going to wear. I will take my time and try things on to make sure they still fit, I will give everything the full Marie Kondo treatment and demand to know if each item still “sparks joy”—but there are always stowaways that continue to sit there, unworn. So this year I’m marking 12/31/22 as the deadline. If something in my closet has not been worn by then (give or take a snow jacket I have by necessity but rarely use in Southern California), I am giving it away to find a new home.
9) Try a no-spend week
I like to think I’m pretty responsible with my money, but I also impulse buy sweatshirts in the middle of the summer, so I’m not perfect. I have seen the concept of a no-spend week around for a while now, but have never purposefully set out to do one. I think it should be relatively easy, but it also might be sneaky hard in ways I don’t anticipate. We’ll see.
10) Find the best pizza in my neighborhood
A few years ago, I set a goal to the find the best pizza, ice cream, donuts, burgers and milkshakes in Los Angeles. It was a fun quest that my stomach greatly enjoyed, and so I’m calling it back this year but only in one category. My sister and I recently moved to a new city that has at least three pizza places within a mile, and many more within 5-10 miles, so I’m going to try and crown THE BEST pizza in my neighborhood. Stay tuned.
11) Open my Etsy shop
One of my quarantine projects (and goals for 2021) was to finish the Dodger Stadium cross-stitch that I designed. I have been making cross stitch patterns for a few years now, so I thought it might be fun to make them available on Etsy in case anyone is looking for some inspiration. 😊
12) Get published
This was on my list of goals for 2021, and while I didn’t complete it, I did get a lot of writing done. So, I’m adding it to this year’s list to encourage me to keep writing consistently, and to submit some of my already written pieces for publication. We’ll see what happens!
13) Go to one movie per month
This was on my list of goals for 2018 but I’m bringing it back because I want to support my local movie theater. The convenience of having movies released on streaming services that I already pay for is undeniable, but there is something so special about seeing a movie in theaters. So this year, I want to make it a point to see at least one movie in theaters per month.
14) Go to 5 museums
This is another throwback from my 2018 goals! (Can you tell that unresolved goals tend to haunt me?) In 2018, I set a goal to visit 20 museums in Los Angeles, but I only made it to eight. Throughout both 2020 and 2021, I think I went to one, which is ridiculous considering how much I enjoy them. So, for 2022, I’m hoping to inspire more museum trips. I’m aiming for five, but I’m hoping they will inspire even more!
15) Make a gift
For my Christmas shopping this year, I tried to shy away from Amazon as much as I could, opting instead for local businesses and artisans on Etsy. This year, I want one gift I give to be something that I make, be it a birthday gift, a Christmas present, or something just because.
16) Cook my way through a cookbook
This is my fourth and final throwback goal! This one comes from 2019, where I tried to cook my way through Chrissy Teigen’s “Cravings: Hungry for More” cookbook. In the end, I both fell out of consistently looking up recipes to make, and I ran into a bunch that I knew I never wanted to make. Still, I loved having a go-to guide for dinners and lunches, and I loved learning new recipes throughout the year. So, I want to try this one again. Cookbook TBD.
17) Places I Sat this Year Photo project
It has been a tradition in my goals to put some kind of creative project in the final spot. This year I’m going to play off of the “Pull Up a Seat” challenge and document “The Places I Sat this Year.” How often do we catch ourselves saying, “I just want to sit down”? When we are sitting down, we are giving our legs a rest, we are relaxing, we are eating, we are traveling, we are, at times, sleeping. We do so much sitting, but I feel like we often don’t pay real attention (or commit to memory) where we’ve spent time sitting. And I mean that both from the perspective of what kind of chair or “seat” you choose to sit in, or the view from said seat. I feel like this project can run in a handful of directions, so I’m excited to see how it turns out!
I’m excited for another year of goals, another year of possibilities, and another year of hard left turns (hopefully towards something *say it with me!!* really good) that I never saw coming.
Wishing you luck with any and all goals and/or resolutions you might be setting for the new year!
Check out more List-cember posts here.
Kimberlee K. 
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