I’ve seen a lot of people enter into this year talking about how they aren’t setting goals or making resolutions or picking words, and I honestly don’t blame them. I waited awhile before I felt ready to sit down and figure out what I wanted to see out of 2022 too and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with rest…or waiting until you feel truly inspired to do something.
With that time and space, I’ve actually gotten really excited about my goals and my word for 2022.
But before we jump into what I have planned for this year, we’ll do a refresher on words past…
2017: FOCUS
(Here’s the blog post from when I chose it!)
This has been one of my favorite words yet, because I love how it showed up in my life. I am notorious for being one with my business, but this year I really wanted to focus on the things that brought me the most joy and prioritize them.
Originally the word “balance” had come to mind, but I loved the word “prioritize” because by definition it means “to determine the order for dealing with (a series of items or tasks) according to their relative importance” – which means there is a time for work and there is a time for play (and all of the other things we need to function in life).
2020 had really thrown me for a loop and I was having a hard time feeling equalized again. I made it a mission of mine to really be intentional about prioritizing the things I knew were important to my happiness and for my future like…
Now to be honest – as far as my other specific goals go…I flopped. I really only finished like half of them. Oh well. We can’t win them all.
(To be fair, I did say in my post that I really had no direction and was kind of shooting in the dark at the beginning of the year…if that sounds like an excuse, it is LOL.)
This year while setting my goals I did try to be more intentional about picking goals that actually mattered to me rather than setting them just because I hoped they would happen.
Alright…drumroll please!!!!
My word for 2022 is…
Every year choosing a word is a very spiritual experience for me. It feels like my word is whispered very quietly to me one day, and then every day after that it comes back again and again, until I just know. That’s what it needs to be.
I honestly wasn’t quite sure what 2022 should be focused on. I mean, there is a lot that happened in 2021!!! I’m still wrapping my head around it.
But just like always, the word “NEW” kept showing up.
NEW has two definitions:
There are a lot of things in my life that have never existed before, and a lot of things that have been around before but I’m excited to see them like it’s the first time.
I’m looking forward to introducing new ways to serve my audience, learning new skills, and setting up new processes.
Thankfully, prioritizing myself set me up for success with a lot of new things…like being a freaking home and dog owner!!
I’m kind of scared of this list. It’s BIG. Lots of NEW. But I’m excited to see how it all goes and I’m ready to take this year on full force.
I do also have some other goals related to income (all business owners should have this!!!) but I’ll keep those for the whiteboard in my NEW office, hehe.
As always, if you’ve made it to the end of this post, thank you so much for your on-going support!!! I couldn’t do any of this without you. You’re helping me create my dream life, and I am so thankful.
Now if you just needed a break at the beginning of the year and didn’t set goals, I totally understand…but baby, it’s time!!! Take the time to review and choose goals that are data-driven and also speak to your heart. Then write them down, tell someone, and let’s freaking do this.
Happy 2022!!!!!
I’m Dakota, a Wilmington, NC-based photographer Helping engaged couples feel comfortable in front of the camera and creative businesses grow with purposeful brand imagery.
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