Week 1: Meet the 22 for 22

One of the very most beneficial things I did for my Buy-No-Clothes-in-2021 Challenge was to do a weekly check-in. Each Saturday, I sat down with the list of rules and goals I had set for myself, and I considered how I may or may not have made progress towards them.

Naturally, knowing me, I can’t go very long or very far without goals or progress. So for 2022, I have taken a page out of Gretchen Rubin’s book and decided to pursue 22 in 22.

That is, 22 goals. They don’t have to be big goals, or new goals, necessarily. Some of them are continuations of the really important lessons I learned last year, and represent a desire to see those good things continue.

What is important is that each one connects to at least one of my Ideal Life Themes (the ones we spent most of the last part of December reviewing for the year!). The themes of Parenting, Marriage, Scheduling and Planning, Spiritual Life, Work, Good Habits & Routines, Personal Style, Gravitas, Body Positivity & Health and Mental Health are the biggies that I am setting before me as central to my 22 in 22.

With no further ado, here are my 22 in 22:

1. Connect better with the scalawags, according to their Love Languages
2. Do the heart work necessary for my marriage
3. Scoop the kitty litter as an act of love
4. Complete and update our home binder info
5. Read Bible every day: both on tablet and hardcover
6. Create a dashboard for progress on creative projects
7. “Don’t Look Down”: Keep chipping away at finding a literary agent who shares my vision.
8. Learn strategies to mitigate the dopamine loop re: creative endeavors
9. Create a workflow for new projects and know how long each part takes realistically
10. Goal-setting, tracking KPI and next steps for becoming podcasting royalty
11. Know all my logins and passwords and keep them update
12. Set aside “unplugged” hours of the day
13. Develop the Go-To Catalogue
14. Mise en Place and Weekly Planning
15. 1€ or less CPW for each individual item, less than 0.20€ per item globally
16. Improve my posture
17. Track steps, water intake, monthly(ish) cycles
18. Eat mindfully and with pleasure
19. Get off the Hedonic Treadmill
20. Practice Mindfulness: articulate and savor the good moments
21. Do Ideal Life Exercise every day
22. Learn something fascinating about psychology every week

While I will, for myself, each week, debrief the progress, I won’t bore you to tears with all the details. I will, however, continue, once a week here on the blog, hold myself accountable by sharing the highlights and the lowlights of my progress.

I will need to talk through what some of these really mean. Not to mention, it’s all well and good to say, “I want to improve my posture,” but without a plan to actually make that happen? Well, then there can’t be any measurable progress because I won’t have measured anything.

Figuring out the measurables on some of these goals is going to be a mindtwister. But I’m always up for a challenge–especially when there are ideas to be had!

So…that’s the plan for 2022.

How are you going to hold yourself accountable to your goals this year?

Have you listened to the Sing With Your Feet, my new podcast yet? You totally should. And you should share it with someone who needs a little fairy dust in their lives!

Take a listen here:

Episode 64: The Golden Rule Rules – Sing With Your Feet

In this last episode before the summer hiatus, Lily talks about this year's challenge to live out the Golden Rule and some of the hiccups that have appeared along the way.

1. Episode 64: The Golden Rule Rules 35:32
2. Episode 63: Foresight 31:32
3. Episode 62: Memory 30:13
4. Episode 61: Novelty 32:34
5. Episode 60: How to Have Great Sex 34:24