It’s hard to believe we’re’ already almost a month into the New Year. Unless we are intentional about how we spend the next 12 months, we’ll blink and 2023 will be already here! With that in mind, I’m establishing new priorities this year and I’d love for you to join me!
How to Define Your Priorities for the New Year
While I’m not a fan of setting New Year resolutions, I’m even a big proponent of re-establishing priorities. Priorities are where the majority of your time, focus, and likely finances go. By definition, priorities mean “precedence, especially established by order of importance or urgency.”
You can re-establish your priorities for the New Year by thinking about your goals:
- Where do you see yourself a year from now? How about 5 years? Make a timeline for yourself.
- What priorities will have to change to reach your goals? Categorize your life and set priorities accordingly.
- Identify and eliminate unnecessary distractions. No, this doesn’t mean your kids or spouse. But, it does include distractions, such as social media, TV, negative friendships, etc.
Understanding how to best define priorities for the New Year can change your entire trajectory for the year!
5 Priorities I’m Focusing on in 2022
As we enter the New Year, I’m paying special attention to my priorities for 2022. After much thought and deliberation, I’ve defined the following to hone in on in the upcoming year:
1. Gain Focus
My number one priority is focusing on the things in my life that are most important: family, relationships, health, etc. Too often, I find myself multitasking or jumping from one task to the next (thank you to my job for teaching me to do that WELL). As a result, time is quickly wasted and I end up wondering where all my time went. My intention is to eliminate distractions, decrease the amount of “life balls” I’m juggling, and bring clarity and focus to the things that are most important.
2. Read
Sure, I spend a decent amount of time reading medical journals and articles for work, but I would love to read more books for leisure. While I always look forward to reading at the end of the night, I most often find myself watching TV and falling asleep on the couch. As a little girl, reading was one of my favorite pastimes and I still love it just as much. I just don’t make the time for it, like I used to. Remember priority number one: focus? My goal is to re-establish focus and eliminate any desire to check emails or text messages at the end of the day, so that I can fully immerse myself in a good book. I have a huge book line up sitting on my bedside table and I can’t wait to dig in!
3. Increase Confidence
Truthfully, I’ve always been a confident person. Growing up, I rarely second guessed myself when it came to my hopes, dreams, and opinions. I just figured out whatever it took to make my dreams happen. However, the past couple of years have changed my confidence level- for the worse. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel as outspoken about my opinions and beliefs, nowadays. Sometimes, it feels like you can’t share anything with fear of offending another! But, if we worry too much about what other people think, we will all become smaller versions of ourselves. And, I’m pretty tired of being a smaller version of myself. I value my authenticity and that of others. We are who we are. So, here’s to discovering my confidence again this year!
4. Save
As an independent contractor, I consider myself an expert at allocating money into different accounts. I know exactly how much money to put into taxes, retirement, travel, and property tax funds every month. And truth be told, most of our excess funds from the last year went to our backyard remodel. And, well, we know how that turned out so far. I’m still crossing my fingers! That said, I’m ready to level up and set new financial goals. For example: real estate investments, a new business idea, or maybe even setting aside for something fun (C’s dream is to have a boat of our own)!
5. Consume Less, Create More
I love learning new things, as I scroll through my social media feeds. It’s even fun to “be influenced” by the latest and greatest. Yet, I’m tired of scrolling. Over the past couple months, I have literally muted and deleted so many miscellaneous accounts. Why? Because they were just a time suck for me. Honestly, I already feel better. And, truth is: I have zero time to create, when I’m constantly consuming.
P.S. Of course, I don’t want to deter you from scrolling my content. Just to be clear: I love this community and interacting with everyone. But, I do want you to be discerning which content brings you joy and that which brings you down.
Now, it’s your turn. How will you establish new priorities for 2022?
