Have you set goals for the new year yet? We are already halfway through the first month of January and I am just starting to set goals for the new year. Each year I like to take a look back on the previous year and see what I can take away from it into the new year.
As you know I enjoy listening to podcasts and the I Have ADHD podcast with Kristen Carder is one of my favorites. She has good advice for doing a year-end review and setting goals. Let’s take a look at the highlights.
What Worked Last Year
I am consistently inconsistent. I am good at that at least! But I need to work more on having a plan. It’s a real struggle for me and I’m trying to find a system that works well for people who have ADHD. Once I have established a routine for doing something, it is hard for me to break away from it to try to implement a new routine and stick to it. Do you have trouble with that?
As you reflect on your past year, don’t think about what you DIDN’T do; but what you DID do.
I am grateful that I landed more jobs with brands because I put more focus on my social media and blog. After I finally solidified my niche on my social media channels, I pitched to brands with intention. Reaching out to brands directly via DM on Instagram was helping me contact the right individuals to who I could reach out to.
What Didn’t Work
I am still having a hard time with my daily routine and finding the right schedule that works for me. I like doing batch video editing, and I seem to do them first thing in the morning as the kids head off to school. I’m trying to learn if I need to set aside a half-day to use for editing only and then have multiple videos in draft mode to post throughout the week.
I wish there was a program for those with ADHD that told us exactly what they should do as they start the day and which times are best for getting x, y, and z done. It’s a real struggle because it takes a lot to get the ball rolling. I have so many things that I want to do that I actually become paralyzed to get any of them started.
My doctor suggested spending 14 minutes at the beginning of the day making a plan for the day. When I do that I sit there and stare at a blank piece of paper unable to make a plan. Or if I do write down things I think I want to get done; I start one of them, but then become distracted throughout the day and never stay on task with the items that I wanted to get done and wrote on my list.
I’m embarrassed sharing this information; because it often makes me feel like a failure. That I can’t do things like I used to even just five or seven years ago! I am very smart! But when I become stuck like this it causes a lot of self-doubts, negative self-talk, and shame.
What Did You Enjoy
I love working with photography and video. Making Instagram reels and TikTok videos this year has been one of my favorite, and successful things for my brand. The creativity really flows when I am allowing myself to be creative and getting lost in nature with my camera.
Traveling with my family is something I also enjoy. Everyone is a little less stressed and we are spending time together in a place we enjoy. We are all in a better mood (most of the time) when we are traveling. I say that because we have teenagers, anything can change in a heartbeat.
What Do You Want To Learn
I definitely have goals for what I want to learn in 2022. I am a forever student. Learning new things gives me energy. I don’t ever want to stop learning. I think that is one of the things I enjoy about being self-employed. The following are some of the things that I would like to add to my resume and knowledge base:
- Generate a monthly newsletter
- Google Analytics certification
- Web Stories
- YouTube Shorts and grow my YouTube channel
I tried not to have too many items on the list of what I wanted to learn because I don’t want to disappoint myself at the end of the year if I didn’t do them all. One other way I am deciding to tackle these goals is to break them out into quarterly goals. This way I won’t get stuck on trying to learn all of them at the same time.
What Goals Do you Want to Achieve in the Coming Year
I found that when I was intentional in thinking positively and with a spirit of abundance, opportunities started to come my way. When I fall off track with those good habits my brain gets frazzled, I don’t feel calm, and my focus is out of whack.
As a wife and mother, I want to support the kids in their teenage needs. These years are critical for them. They can also be a challenge as a parent and a spouse. I have been doing a lot of research on the teenage brain and found some great information to help me understand what my kids are going through. It also helps me give them grace, and space, to deal with what they deal with as teens.
As a runner, I’d like to increase my mileage for the year. My mileage was pretty high each year when I first started running. In the past few years, it has gone down as I haven’t had many races on the calendar.
When I was training for the Goofy Challenge just last month, I was getting in the required runs because I had something specific I was training for. Once I canceled that trip, the mileage dropped off. I was still active doing other things, but running wasn’t my top priority. I want to have a solid base of 8-10 miles under my belt so that I can register for a half marathon at any time and not have to restart my training.
Now that I took some time to look back and reflect, using this technique for creating new goals; I feel confident that I will have a successful year in 2022 both personally and professionally. There will be struggles at times, but I have some tools that I am learning how to use. I also have a great community growing with my runner friends to also help keep me accountable.
