End of Year Review and 2022 Goals

If you read any of my past blog posts about New Year's Resolutions, then you know that I tend to go easy on myself and give myself a lot of slack when it comes to hold myself to it. And many years I do try to keep up with them. But as I started thinking about what I was going to say about this past year I realized I didn't even remember what I said my resolutions were going to be. Luckily, I publicly write them down, but I still don't think it's the most positive sign that I'm completely clueless.

Unfortunately for my self confidence, I've realized that I failed to uphold my resolutions to the fullest extent. With a goal to read 10 books and finish the ones I never finished, I only read 5 total and completed one of my previously unfinished reads. When it comes to minimizing my possessions, I think it's safe to say that I brought more into my life than I planned. (Though I'm doing a massive closet clean out currently that's left me feeling proud.) And finally, when it comes to introducing healthy habits, they came and went as my life changed throughout the years. For example, I consumed far more water in New York but also had more pasta than anything else, but in Kent I was mostly eating vegetables (though drinking far less water than necessary).

But as I look back on the year, I'm impressed with all of my other accomplishments and activities that occurred during 2021. While I started off the year in a rough spot mentally, I spent the summer in New York completing an internship that I loved, I worked at one of my favorite stores, and I graduated college. I visited two new states and made new friends. I had so many unforgettable experiences despite any pain and setbacks that occurred. I may not have met any of my goals, but it was a great year nonetheless.

And as the New Year approaches, I'm faced with recognizing that I have no idea what the 2022 holds for me. As I discussed in my last post, right now I'm focused on getting my life together, but I don't even know how long that will take. I could be moving again in six months, or I could still be here at the house working my hourly job. With that overwhelming realization in mind, it's been hard for me to make solid plans and goals for the year because they have to be flexible in case I do move or make big life changes at any point in the year. But after a lot of thought these are the goals I've decided upon:

A No-Buy Year (For as long as I can)

So I've toyed around with doing something like this for a while, and I've tried tracking my purchases in the past and it's always ended messily. But this year I'm serious. I might be moving this year, and I have a lot of stuff. But because I might be moving this year, I also have to acknowledge that I may need things once I get to wherever I'm going. But right now I'm at my mom's house with all the items I currently own, and anything she has that I can use, so buying more isn't necessary. I will be writing a more in-depth post about this next week so stayed tuned.

Read Twelve Books

Logically, I question why I chose this number because I read five books this year when I wanted to read ten. But now that I am out of school and working from home, I think it's really important that I start to cultivate habits that can be lifelong. And this will start by making sure I'm reading at least one book a month. Stranger things have happened, but I feel like this isn't a bad place to start.

Keeping Up with My Excel Sheet

I recently saw a TikTok about a girl who made an excel sheet so she could become ~that girl~. And admittedly, I will probably never be that girl, but I was inspired by the idea and made my own excel sheet so that I can give structure to my days since they seemingly lack a schedule right now. Below is a sneak peak of what my sheet looks like.

My hope is that in addition to adding some structure to my day, I can make habits of some of these behaviors. Additionally, I plan on modifying it as necessary once things become second nature or if there are other habits I choose to try and incorporate into my life.

xoxo, Jacquelyn

Outfit Details:

Jumpsuit: Gal Meets Glam (Old)

Shoes: Circus by Sam Edelman via Urban Outfitters