NEW YEAR – New Goals 2022

Taking Time to Reflect On my 2021 Accomplishments & Setting my 2022 Goals!

How many of you have ever made a New Year’s resolution? How many of you have started the year out with excitement and determination for those resolutions? And how many of you have given up on your resolutions within a month? Yeah…me too. In the past, I would always make a resolution that had to do with my health. Maybe it was a certain diet or exercise program. Maybe it was to quit smoking. I would start out with such determination, only to give up after a few weeks or month. I always thought it was because I lacked the inner strength and self-discipline. That may be partially true, but I’ve come to believe it’s more than that. I’ve come to believe that it is incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to make such a big change in ONE aspect of my life. Instead, I’ve concluded, for me, change needs to be more holistic, and it begins with a healthy mindset.

This year I’m doing something different. I’m not making any resolutions! Instead, I’ve made myself a list of goals. What’s the difference you ask? Well, for me, a resolution generally has had to do with one item or part of my life (like dieting and/or exercise). This kind of paradigm shift has never worked for me, so why keep trying something that doesn’t work.

I’ve learned that change takes time, and to be successful I need to make change in phases. I also have learned that it’s extremely important to take the time and reflect on all the accomplishments I made in the previous year. In the past, the self-saboteur in me, would always dwell on what I didn’t accomplish or do well. I didn’t realize that this way of thinking was only setting my up for failure! Trust me when I say, dwelling on your past failures will only set you up for more failures in the future, and is incredibly unhealthy. Instead, acknowledge your accomplishments! This positive exercise will only help you in setting and accomplishing your goals in the new year!  

If there is something you want to improve on, that’s great too! But whatever you do, don’t dwell on what you did wrong the first time around! Learn from it so you can improve on it in the future!

“Those who fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.”

So, for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been taking time to reflect on the past year. My focus has been on my accomplishments. Here’s what I came up with:

• Left the workforce to focus on my mental, physical, and spiritual health
• Sold everything to simplify my life
• Moved to a new country having never been here before
• Started to learn Spanish
• Created The Ashtree Home including Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and online store
• Began to blog and journal
• Started to embrace veganism
• Started to meditate and study the teachings of Buddhism
• Began my journey of self-care
• Began the process of detoxing my life
• Eliminated 90% of all processed foods
• Reduced my soft drink consumption (I have only had a coca cola 10 times in the last 9 months!)
• Began to dabble in photography
• Began to dabble with playing the Ukulele
• Have made new friends and forged new relationships.
• Have embraced my wrinkles and graying hair
• Am learning to listen to my body
• Am embracing my curves
• Have learned that love has no boundaries and knows no limits

 As you can see, a lot of these are small, like starting to learn Spanish and playing the ukulele. Have I mastered these two items? Of course not, But I took the leap and started the process! Now I have a goal to improve each one in 2022!

Going through this exercise has really helped me have a much healthier mindset. I can acknowledge the fact that I tried something new and even though I didn’t master anything, I had the courage to try! I’m grateful for that!

So now, here are my goals for the coming year:

• Be more consistent with writing and posting blogs
• Post every day to social media platforms
• Crate more vlogs
• Mediate and journal everyday
• Yoga minimum once a week
• Water aerobics minimum once a week
• Learn a song on the Ukulele
• Learn to knit
• Build my garden to grow more herbs and vegetables
• Reduce meat consumption by minimum 75%
• Cook more Vegan meals
• Learn to make more vegan sweets
• Study Spanish at least twice a week
• Lose fat and gain strength
• Get a new hairstyle
• Allow myself to be pampered at least once a month.

Will I accomplish all these goals? I don’t know. But I do know that if I try and make progress in the right direction, then I’m accomplishing something! And that will make me very happy!