Birthdays and year-end are great times to reassess and set goals for yourself. My birthday falls at the end of the year, so today is the perfect time to finalize my 40 goals for 2022.
Why 40 goals? Well, it’s hard to believe, but I just completed my 40th trip around the sun! Time really does fly.
Entering a new decade of life
As I enter this next phase, I wanted to reflect on the past and set intentions for the future. Because of this, I’ve set 40 goals for 2022, which I’m sharing today. Each goal aligns with the overall themes and larger goals I have for the next decade of this adventure we call life.
My thirties were challenging. I ended a 10-year relationship, strived to climb the corporate ladder, battled weight-loss and mental health challenges, had a near-death experience, and searched for my place in this world. Despite these challenges, the last decade was also amazing! I spent most of it with my wonderful husband, who singlehandedly caused me to believe that love is real and soulmates might actually exist. This will also forever be remembered as the decade our precious daughter was born. The one during which we lived abroad and travelled with abandon. And, the one in which I finally let go of my ego and left the corporate world behind.
Although I don’t recall setting any goals for my 30’s, I have no doubt that some probably would have gone unaccomplished. And, that’s okay. Today marks a new beginning. Just like every year… or birthday… or really any day we wake up and say “Today’s the day,” provides a chance for a fresh start.
I’m approaching my forties with some reservations, but mostly excitement. I feel like I’m closer to realizing who I am and the person I want to become than ever before. And I’m ready to take the next steps.
My 40 goals for 2022
Although I’m not a huge fan of “resolutions,” I find goals to be motivational, so continue to set them each year (and month). I will formulate most these as SMART goals on my own, but am keeping it simple for the purposes of this blog post.
Here you have it… my 40 goals for 2022.
Health
Walk 3-million steps this year (~8,200 per day)
Complete 4 workouts per week (1 cardio and 3 strength, minimum: 20 min)
Meditate Daily
Try a whole food, plant-based diet for at least 2-weeks (no cow dairy for 4-weeks)
Drink 60+ ounces of water per day
Eat 5+ fruits & vegetables at least 5 days per week
Two social media-free days per week (for mental-health)
Financial
Achieve financial independence!
Max out tax-advantaged accounts (401k, HSA, Dependent care FSA)
Invest $75,000 in brokerage/taxable accounts (based on assumption bonus & equity payouts will be good this year)
Save 75% or more of our after-tax income (same assumption as above)
Spend less than $55,000, which is just slightly over our 2022 budget
Set up and fund a Donor-advised Fund for charitable giving
Update our financial forecast spreadsheet & create a portfolio withdrawal strategy plan (I’ll share on the blog, once completed)
Finalize official will and trust (yes, I’m ashamed that we haven’t done this already)
Successfully complete 2-year clothing ban challenge
Blog / Side hustles
Write at least 50 blog posts
Attend one personal finance networking event or conference
Earn enough money from blog to cover its expenses
List 50+ items for sale on eBay or Poshmark
Post 3 social media posts on Instagram per week
Organically grow Instagram followers to 3,000+ and Twitter to 600+ (By just being myself, NOT by following a bunch of people in hopes they follow back)
Sustainability & Simple Living
Declutter 500 items – We’ve done a lot of this over the past two years, so there isn’t a ton left to declutter.
Successfully grow a salad from my garden
Master the art of making sourdough bread
Start composting (and learn how to do it right)
Learn how to properly can and preserve food
Relationships / Social
Volunteer at least 50 hours (school or non-profit/charitable organizations)
Attend at least one community social event per month
Keep up weekly dates with my spouse
Spend 30-minutes a day playing with my daughter (whatever silly things she wants)
Self-improvement & Other Goals
Finish our home renovation (finally!)
Spend 1+ hours per week learning how to read music and play piano
Learn how to play (and sing) 2 complete songs on piano by NYE 2022
Try 50 new recipes
Learn how to grill
Learn how to play pickleball (or pick up tennis again)
Read 30 books
Hike 10 new trails
Plan and take an awesome 2-3 week road trip this summer (don’t worry about the insane cost)
Goals for the next decade…
I set many of my goals for 2022 in hopes that they will turn into habits or serve as the starting point for some of my longer-term goals.
What are the themes and overarching goals for my forties?
Well, for starters, I hope to finally find comfort in my own skin. I’m getting there, but still worry about what other people think too much. I believe the best way to accomplish this is through continued self-improvement. Oh, and limiting social media.
Many of you already know that health is an important part of my journey and one of my biggest “whys” for pursuing financial independence. I truly believe that health is wealth! Although I’ve made some progress since retiring in March 2020 (i.e. losing 36 Lbs.), there’s more work to do here.
Somewhat aligned with health, is my interest in sustainability and simple living. I’d like to continue to remove most chemicals and processed foods from our lives and do more to reduce my carbon footprint. Learning how to homestead and self-provide is incredibly appealing to me.
One of the best parts of retiring early is being able to spend more time with the people I love, so I look forward to doing more of this over the next 10 years. I want to give more than I take in my marriage, and make sure my daughter grows up knowing that I love her unconditionally. It’s hard to believe that I’ll have a teenager before this decade is over!
Finally, I want to use my newfound freedom to discover, rediscover, and develop hobbies which fulfill me. This includes spending more time outdoors and making music a significant part of my life again. Singing and listening to music were my biggest passions growing up, and other than singing along to the radio, I completely let go of it in adulthood. Over the next 10 years, I also want to learn to play piano and guitar. While I don’t need to be an expert, I’d like to be good enough to pick up songs reasonably quickly for accompaniment and jamming out with my hubby.
Those are my 40 goals for 2022, and hopes for the next decade.
What are your goals for next year?
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Mr Fate
Wow! Now you’re not messing about! Those are some amazing and loft goals and I have every confidence you’ll get to them all. In fact, I’m stealing a few, like making sourdough bread, drinking water, and trying 50 recipes.
I’m thinking you’ll really enjoy your 40s. Unequivocally, the best d’escadre of my life so far! Enjoy and here’s to a spectacular 2022!
Mrs. RichFrugalLife
Thank you Mr. Fate! High praise from someone who also likes to push himself with lofty goals. Gonna do my best to nail them all!
Glad to hear that life has only gotten better in your 40’s… hopeful that that will be my experience as well. Cheers and happy new year!
FreshLifeAdvice
These are fantastic goals! Very specific, meaning you are more likely to achieve them! I really like the health goals especially. Congrats on losing so much weight! I usually shoot for 5,000 steps per day but you’ve inspired me to bump up that number. You’ve got a great well-balanced life and best of luck in 2022. I’m sure you won’t need the luck though 🙂
Mrs. RichFrugalLife
Thank you for the comment and kind words Tyler! Gonna do my best to achieve them 🙂
Happy new year to you and wishing you all the best in 2022!
Minnesotafinances
Amazing goals!!! I was wondering if you could speak to how you track some of these goals. The strength workouts…do you use Fitbit for steps? Goodreads to track books? etc.
Mrs. RichFrugalLife
Thank you, and great question!
Due to the number of goals this year (I’ve never set so many at once!), I’m going to create a customized tracker for myself in excel. I create spreadsheets for pretty much everything, because I’m nerdy like that.
But generally speaking, I use my Apple watch, MyFitnessPal (free version) and/or my planner for health and wellness goals, Goodreads for reading goals, and customized spreadsheets for finance-related goals. I’ll still utilize these tools in tracking my goals this year, but want to create a single place to summarize everything so I can see how I’m doing over the course of the year and not lose track of the goals that don’t fit neatly into any of those categories (i.e. new recipes tried).