Evolving our goals as we grow
Sometimes a change in focus is needed even after personal success
Over the past year, I grew a great deal as a person. I improved my physical and mental health, taking a vested interest in things like philosophy, mental health, and, generally, anything else that nurtures my soul. This included things like reading, writing, exercise, and creative exploration. It all served me well but with a new year fast approaching, it’s time to set some new goals.
While I did consider setting goals further down these same roads, such as “write 300 days a year,” or “get down to 170 lbs.,” or something along those lines, I honestly don’t feel that I need to. I’m not abandoning writing — far from it. I plan to write most every day anyway. And while I may not be attacking fitness in the same manner as I did this last year when I dropped close to 70 lbs., I’m completely content with myself physically. At this point, my only interest is maintaining form within about 5–10 lbs.
In 2021, I fought hard to repair a fragmented relationship with myself. That’s great. But now my perspective and focus need to shift beyond just myself. To give the best version of myself to my loved ones, I needed to first tend to and cultivate a healthy relationship with myself. Now having that, I need to further strengthen and develop my connection with those who matter most in my life.
My daughter is a year and a half old and, while I believe myself to be a good father, I would love to be an even better one. My wife is amazing with her and I feel myself hesitant and unsure at times over how to interact given she’s just 18 months old. Speaking of my wife, I’d like to work on becoming a better husband to her as well. I do a lot of little things around the house and manage certain tasks for the household but I know what speaks most to her is quality time — something I couldn’t offer as much of as I would’ve liked over the past year as I finished my degree at North Texas.
While such things might sound untrackable in terms of their progress, I’m more concerned with embodying my virtues and being kind, patient, and caring in all things. I’ll have other goals I piece together as well, but my biggest focus in the new year will be on the relationships in my life.
The things I incorporated into my everyday life in 2021 — journaling, meditating, reading, and writing — will remain in the fold. The difference is that I want to dedicate myself to becoming a better man beyond simply my personal mental health. A good friend; a good father; a good husband. These are the things I aspire to.
How about you? What are your goals for 2022? Let me know in the comments below.
