The One Thing To Do in 2022

What is the one thing you should do in 2022? Entering a new year is a time to reflect on where you’ve been and where you want to go.  For many, it’s a time to consider what they want to change in their life.  There are many goals you could set this year.  Yet, out of all the possible things you could resolve to do, there is one thing you should do in 2022. When I started doing this one thing, my life changed for the better. So, where do I start learning the one thing to do in 2022? Read below to find out!

Something Has To Change for 2022

Several years ago I lived in a different city.  I worked as a director of several mental health programs and was responsible for dozens of employees.  I also volunteered with a community organization, serving on the board of directors.  On top of that, I was trying to raise my then 9 year old daughter as a single parent amidst other “adulting” to-dos.  I felt torn between the many different responsibilities I had.  At one point, I felt I could no longer keep up.  I complained a lot, was working long hours, and neglecting my health and wellbeing.  I was frustrated with how things were and felt like there was not much I could do to change it.  Stress overwhelmed me, and I started to no longer recognize the person I was.  

As a mental health professional, I help people learn how to create positive changes in their life.  I would talk with individuals on ways to manage stress or other overwhelming emotions.  I helped them gain insight into themselves or discover solutions to the various challenges they faced.  Yet, everything I was helping other people do I wasn’t doing for myself.  I told myself, “Helping others is more important than helping yourself.”  I encouraged others to seek help when they were struggling, but it was hard for me to do the same.  It was as if I was in the middle of a forest, and I couldn’t see my way out.

I got so tired and burnt out that I realized something had to change.  I no longer wanted to just hope that one day my life would magically get less stressful.  Sure, I had a job that my younger self would have only wished for.  I had been working towards this for years. But was it worth it?

Take Inventory on Your Life in 2022

Finally, I took my own advice and started taking inventory of my life.  Where was I?  How did I get here?  The first step to figuring out what you want to change you in your life is to figure out where you are and what got you there in the first place.  We must know where we are starting from before we figure out how to get to where we want to go. 

I started asking myself how satisfied I was in the different areas of my life. Something else I thought about was my health (physical and mental), relationships, work/passion, finances, and faith/spirituality.  I assessed where I thought each area of my life was on a scale from 1 to 10. 1 being “this is terrible” and 10 being “this is the best thing ever”.  If you are wondering how I scored myself in most of the areas in my life, I’ll cut through the suspense and let you know there weren’t any 10s on my list.  But knowing where I was in life helped me figure out where I wanted to go. This also helped me realize what I wanted to focus on changing.

Next, I started imagining, “If anything were possible and I was able to create the life I wanted, what would it look like?” What would a happy and less stressed version of myself look like?  Using our imagination is something we do well when we are children, but it becomes harder as we get older. Yet, you are never too old to imagine what you want for your life or too lost to find your way forward.  We may just need help to figure out how to get there.  

Create Goals To Get To 2022

From there I created some goals or intentions for my life.  I began trying to figure out what skills I would need to learn, what fears I would need to face, things I needed to say “no” to, and whose help I would need. Then, I needed to find the way out of the forest and onto the path I wanted to be on.  I got clear on what was important to me (not to anyone else), and why it was important.  And I started taking small baby steps towards those goals.

Nothing Changes Overnight

Spoiler alert: nothing changed overnight.  The path forward wasn’t a straight line or easy.  In fact, it had a lot of ups, downs, and in betweens.  During the year I became more intentional, I changed jobs, started saying no to things, got help and support, and began putting boundaries in place.  Everyday it required showing up and figuring out which step to take next.  But gradually I started living life with intention.  

I’m happy to report that now I’m a much less stressed version of myself.  Sure I have stress from time to time.  Who doesn’t?  Life still throws challenges my way like it does for many of us.  But, I’m here to tell you I found my way out of the forest of overwhelm. I share my story with you, because I never could have imagined several years ago how being more intentional would impact my life.  In fact, it has brought me more than I ever thought possible.  And I want that for you too! 

Live with an Intention

Your forest may not look like mine, in fact yours may even be a jungle or a desert.  No matter how lost you feel, know there is always a way forward.  Sometimes it’s about stopping long enough to take inventory and gain clarity.  Then becoming more intentional with the things most important to you.  

This year the one thing you should do in 2022 is to live with intention. That’s it! If there is something you are unhappy with, find a way to change it.  Sure, it will take work, but you won’t regret it.  I always say, “Life is too short to be miserable.”  It’s up to you to find a way to change things if there is something you are unhappy with.  If you want to live with more intention this year, I created a free workbook for you with the same steps that helped me.  You can download it at beinspiredcc.com/2022.  You never know, 2022 may be your best year yet!