I Have One Goal for 2022

What I learned after my life was turned upside down

On a trip I took with my father 3 months before he died | Image by author

In November 2020, I was looking at a cool new planner I had bought for the upcoming year and decided to try something different with goal-setting.

In the past, I would set my goals as if I was taking dictation. I wrote down things I thought I should do or want. I would set the bar too high or too low or just run in the wrong direction.

In November 2020, I took my journal and poured my soul out. I wanted to go deep, to connect to my true desires, and come up with goals that I would have endless energy and courage for. Not necessarily big or prestigious or ambitious ones. But ones that I want.

I ended up with pretty cool goals for 2021, I thought. I burned with desire for them. They looked something like:

• Write a poetry collection
• Write a children’s book
• Grow a herb garden on my balcony
• Research family history in my paternal grandparents’ hometown
• Create cool games for the kids in the Roma community I was doing volunteer work for
• Study the Romanes language
• Learn horseback riding
• Make a full-time living writing for myself