Another very interesting year is in the books, and many people are already looking forward to 2022. Let’s not treat this year like every other. The turn of each calendar year is an opportunity to start fresh and make it the best year yet.
Getting the year started off on the right foot won’t exactly dictate the next 365 days, but it will most certainly put you in the best position possible to take on the world. This article will offer a few tips you can use to kick off 2022 in the best way possible so that this year is the best one for you yet:
Set Monthly Resolutions
The New Year’s tradition is to set a resolution that you hope to achieve by the end of the year. It’s great to set goals, especially long-term targets to work toward overtime. However, yearly resolutions can easily be forgotten or left on the back burner if you don’t set other goals along the way.
To start 2022 off on the right foot, set a resolution for the month of January. This can line up with your annual goal or be something completely different. The point is to have multiple checkpoints that are keeping you accountable for being productive.
For example, your goal for the entirety of 2022 might be to run a marathon. For January, set a goal to run a certain number of miles or complete your first 5k race. Otherwise, you might end up in December realizing you haven’t been training and that your New Year’s resolution hangs in the balance.
Schedule Your Time
Are you intentionally scheduling your time? This is one of the best things you can do to start the new year off with your best foot forward. Time management is the foundation of high productivity. The sooner you’re able to improve your time management, the more success you’ll be able to cultivate throughout 2022.
Luckily, you’ve come to the right place. Calendar is the perfect app to help you get a grip on your time management. It’s a simple app to use that can be accessed from your desktop or cell phone. Use Calendar to plan workout routines, iron out details for work meetings, or make time to work that book you’ve thought about writing for years.
Another great feature of Calendar is its time analytics. At the end of each day, week, or month, you can take a look at how your time was divided during that period. This will help you improve your work-life balance or motivate you to push yourself harder in the days to come. While you shouldn’t base everything off of numbers, having that data within arm’s reach can help you out in numerous situations.
Focus on Daily Routines
Rome wasn’t built in a day. This famous saying can be applied to anything you hope to pursue in 2022. Maybe you want to start your own business or have plans to graduate from college. No matter what your goal is, you can’t expect to make one large leap to reach the finish line.
Reaching your goals requires a little bit of effort every day. Focusing on daily routines can help you make baby steps toward all of your aspirations for 2022. For example, a good sleep routine will ensure that you’re always well-rested and have the energy you need to ace classes, make progress at work, or maintain the motivation to go to the gym every day.
Daily routines will soon become second nature as you integrate them into your lifestyle. Once you’ve accomplished that, you can build upon a stronger foundation. Your larger goals for 2022 will be easier to reach since you’ve already established yourself on healthy habits and strong principles.
Find Someone to Hold You Accountable
Calendar will do everything it can to hold you accountable to your goals by helping you manage your time and through blog posts like this one to keep you motivated. However, the best help you can receive is from a trusted friend or family member. They can truly keep you accountable to the goals you plan to pursue as well as give you some much-needed support when difficult challenges inevitably arrive.
Before 2022 really gets underway, find someone who will agree to help you out. You will report to this person on your progress and they will take it upon themselves to try and hold you accountable for your failures and successes. This can be a significant other, a mentor, or a work colleague.
You can even set a goal for 2022 with another person. For example, fitness goals with a buddy give you someone else to motivate you to eat healthier and get to the gym regularly. Goals like this are totally feasible on your own, but are made much easier with a friend.
Take Time to Review
Just because we’re moving on to 2022 doesn’t mean we should forget everything that 2021 had to offer. By taking the time to review the past year you can create a better game plan on how to start 2022 off on the right foot. Through proper review, you’ll be able to replicate your past successes as well as learn from mistakes you’ve made in the past year.
If you used Calendar in 2021, you can look back on your time analytics and scheduling to get an idea of what you can do better in 2022. Perhaps you need to spend more time on a side hustle to get it going or need to increase the number of personal planning meetings you hold each month.
You should also look at major personal events such as promotions or financial successes to see what you should start doing right away to try and repeat those events.
2022 might be unpredictable, but you can put yourself in the best position possible through time management, planning, and a whole lot of elbow grease. Even when push comes to shove, you’ll be able to accomplish great things if you just put your mind to it.
Image Credit: Polina Zimmerman; Pexels; Thank you!
Hunter Meine
Hunter Meine is a BYU-Idaho graduate, husband, father, and writer. When he's not writing, he's playing sports or enjoying the outdoors with his wife and daughter.