Review of 2022 goals
It’s the last month of the year, a good time for some reflection. 2022 was the first year I did goal setting because I was never huge on it. With or without clearly defined goals, I am the type to push too hard to a point where I have to tell myself to slow down, so goal setting felt like something that would only add unnecessary stress.
This year, I had many things I had to get done by certain deadlines within the year, so I decided to try goal setting. Because there are many areas of my life I’m working on, I also just wanted to have specific goals in each area on paper.
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At the beginning of this year, once I wrote the goals down, I told myself to keep one thought in mind whenever I review—that the purpose isn’t necessarily to check every single thing off (which I get overly obsessed about) but to have something that puts into words the direction I want to work towards and acts as a reminder if I ever feel lost. With that said, here is the review of my 2022 goals.
TL;DR…
Now let’s get into the details!
Physical health - drink 2L water every day, work out 3+times/week, lose 5-10 kgs
I became hyper aware of my water intake and got used to keeping track so I definitely drank 2L+ of water (sometimes 2.5L+) for a good chunk of this year. I noticed significant improvement in my skin condition, bloating, and energy levels after staying consistent with this. It just seems natural to keep doing it now, because it’s such a simple thing to do to avoid the negative things that happen to my body otherwise.
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I worked out 3-4x a week for most of the year until my move to Asia in late October, which is pretty good. Unfortunately, I did not lose the weight I wanted to lose but at this point I don’t think I care as much about the number because I built a workout habit this year and can feel my body getting stronger and healthier. I am also grateful to have picked up working out again after struggling to find motivation for a while post-ankle-injury.
Mental health - mood journal, gratitude journal
I started journalling with a few simple prompts. Every day I list at least three things that happened that I’m grateful for, and I put down a color that represents my mood for the day. With this exercise on my calendar, I have a designated time for deep reflection and mental checkin every day.
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Similar to the workout habit, I slipped from this habit after my move to Asia. I haven’t been very hard on myself about it, because many things change when people move across continents. With that said, I intend to go back to daily journaling, because I can tell I have been more stressed lately compared to when I was journalling. I still think I did well in this goal, having found an exercise that helps me reflect and gives me some self care time.
Finish my master’s thesis
I finished my thesis paper which was the last step of my masters degree program. It wasn’t easy but I’m so happy to be able to say I got it done. I also wrote about what made the thesis paper difficult to finish for me and how I pulled through in this blog.
Find my next opportunity in Asia
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This one is directly related to my move, which was delayed, so it naturally hasn’t happened. I was pretty down at first about my move getting delayed for so long, but I’m now at peace with it, as a lot of it was out of my control and therefore not something I should dwell too much on. Similarly to how I got over my ankle injury, it was key for me to distinguish what was in my control and what was not. We can prepare for many things in life, but we can’t stop certain things from spontaneously coming up and disrupting our plans. Time spent on what I cannot control is not time well spent, so I’m just glad that I finally moved and can look forward.
Pass JLPT N1 and increase vocabulary
I would say I definitely worked on my vocabulary which has helped but it’s still a big work in progress. I took up reading in Japanese, and it’s been a very refreshing way of picking up vocabulary compared to the traditional follow-the-textbook method I’ve done. I decided to give it a shot because it’s a much more natural way to acquire new words, and I think it has helped for sure.
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JLPT stands for Japanese Language Proficiency Test, and N1 is the highest level. I took the N1 exam earlier this month, but I don’t think I passed. Honestly, because of the past few crazy months, I haven’t gotten to study much. Whether I pass or not, I know I will continue studying as there is no end to language learning. There were some actions taken for this goal. If they turn out to not be enough…I put in my best, and I will most likely take the exam again next year. I should be able to spend more time on it now that my move is out of the way.
Invest responsibly
I rebalanced my portfolio this year to be more long term focused. Ever since I did that, I have gotten out of the habit of checking it every day. I’m happy because I find my current relationship with my portfolio to be a much healthier one. I add to my portfolio in increments over time and review my portfolio performance every month or two. It’s just the right distance for me. Even if that changes later, for right now I feel good about it.
Start studying Korean
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Decided to hit a pause on this one because Korean and Japanese are just so similar as languages and I didn’t want to mix them up. :( I watch quite a bit of Korean drama, and I already find myself blurting out Korean instead of Japanese once in a while. When my Japanese level is more solid (hopefully that’s soon), I will absolutely start learning Korean. I can’t wait.
Try out language related hustle
This is also one I decided to hold off on. When things related to my move became overwhelming, I could not focus on too many things at once. Earlier in the year before things got busy, I had spent some time researching about language related side hustles, such as translating, subtitling/captioning, or creating content about languages, and I realized that in the beginning they can be time consuming with little rewards. So I decided that this year I just didn’t have the extra energy to put into this area. If I want to try it later, I certainly will. For now, I am sticking to language learning because it’s a lot of fun for me and offers lots of flexibility in terms of how much and where I fit it into my life.
Try out pilates
I can’t believe I haven’t done this yet!! I’m actually really sad about it, because I thought this was an easy one to accomplish this year. I have been talking about trying pilates for a long time but still haven’t pulled the trigger. Part of it is I feel the need to do enough research to find the right studio, for instructor quality, covid risk and all. I’m one of the slower people in my friend groups to get more comfortable going out again after staying in during the pandemic.
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I’m doing quite a few different types of exercises right now, but I’m determined to try this to hopefully add a slower-movement type of workout to my routine that works different muscles from the typical weight training. I’ve also had a handful of friends tell me they think I would love it, so I’m excited to find out whether I will and hopefully discover another fun way to train my body.
Read 10 books
I did do this! I actually accomplished this a few months early so I think I might need to raise my count next year. It’s satisfying to say this was done, because growing up I always saw reading as my weakness in school and would have never pictured myself doing it for fun. I started reading more after I left university, and I’m now able to see it as an enjoyable activity instead of a section of the test I always score poorly on LOL. Having always felt inferior in my reading speed and comprehension because of school, I know I’ve come a long way to have now picked it up as a hobby and allowed myself to explore all kinds of books stress-free.
Start writing (and maybe publish a blog)
Clearly I did this one with the start of my blog and journaling habit. I actually thought this one was the least achievable for me. I never had a writing habit, so this felt like the goal that was farthest from me at the beginning of the year. It wasn’t absolutely necessary for me to write, the way the thesis paper was for the completion of my degree, or the way finding my next opportunity was for making a living. I also had yet to experience the benefits and joy of writing, the way I had known the fun and excitement of language learning.
It was an activity that was the most out of place among the things I had in my life, but somehow I did it. I even did the “maybe” part by starting this blog in June. So I’m proud of myself for this one.
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Accomplishing this one brought many benefits. My main reason for wanting to start writing was to document my journey and be able to look back on it, because when I previously tried to recollect details of certain experiences in my life, a lot of them felt like a blur. I realized then that if I don’t try to capture the details somehow I might regret it later. Writing in all forms has served this purpose greatly so far since I began doing it.
Besides the documentation part of it, writing has helped me organize my thoughts. The process of writing feels like cleaning up a messy room that is my brain—connecting the dots, putting things into piles, and placing them deliberately where they belong to make the whole space neat.
Publishing a blog, even if no one reads it, was a huge milestone for me. It was difficult but extremely liberating to put myself out there, let my guard down, be vulnerable, and be open to the world. It felt like letting go of control, but also being in control in a whole new way. It has challenged me in unexpected ways and enabled me to see the world in different lens. Writing has been a great addition to my ‘portfolio’ of hobbies (yes I have many, read about how I handle them here), and I hope to continue for as long as I can.
Conclusion
This was my first year setting goals. While they may seem like unrelated things all thrown together, they’re all part of my effort working towards the type of life I want for myself. I didn’t fulfill every single one of them, but I see the progress made towards all of them including the unfinished ones. I’m somewhat satisfied with the results, knowing that the setbacks were mostly driven by things that weren’t in my control, and that I did my best in things that were.
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I recognize that sometimes life happens and I have to change my plans. 2022 has been a testing year that taught me how to be patient with progress, how to weather uncertainties, and how to not be too hard on myself. Whether in full completion or partial progress, all the goals are slowly shaping my life into one that I want for myself and aligning with where I wanted to go at the beginning of this year.
Still, I couldn’t help but notice that most of the goals I didn’t accomplish involve experiencing new things. Moving to a different continent turned out to be plenty of “new” for this year, but I want to eventually try the things on this list that I didn’t get to. I always want to remain open-minded to the different people, perspectives, experiences, and opportunities life can bring me.
