I shared in a recent post that my word of the year for 2022 is “rooted”. I chose this word specifically because I wanted to become more rooted in what I’ve already established rather than do more. Each year I’d normally pick a few wild goals to achieve and work toward that outcome.
For example, in 2015 I bought a house in my own. In 2017 I took my first ever solo trip. In 2018, I moved to Tampa, FL for work without ever having visited prior. In 2019 I ran my first ever half marathon, up a mountain in Montana. And in 2020, even before the pandemic started, I had a God nudge that my travels for 2020 would be paused completely. (You can read about that here).
When I thought about what I wanted to establish in 2022, I didn’t really have anything big or new or crazy planned. I just wanted to double down on the good things I was already doing and make them even more solidified in my life.
These things include my morning routine, drinking water, eating more veggies, spending time in the word every morning before the world wakes up, prayer, moving 30 minutes a day, weekly date nights, making dinners 4x a week, planning my week on Sundays, and quarterly trips. I didn’t want to do really anything drastically differently than I do now, I just wanted to do it more consistently and intentionally.
So I broke down my word of the year into 4 directional goals for what I’d like to be. They are as follows:
1. Rooted in faith
2. Rooted in relationships
3. Rooted in rhythms
4. Rooted in legacy
Rather than “doing” type goals, I wanted goals that call me to “be” or “become” which is why they’re phrased this way.
Rooted in Faith
- Reading the Bible in 90 days. I want to start off the year getting to know God even more deeply.
- Rooted in Grace online course that is 66 days long and helps focus on 10 ways to deepen my relationship with the Lord.
- Daily devotional which I do regularly already so just solidifying this habit even more (especially weekends). I’m starting with the Radiate devotional.
- Going through the Rooted in Him bible study from DailyGraceCo that will go through the book of Colossians.
- Prayer even more frequently. This ebbs and flows for me so finding ways to incorporate it even more in my day like after a habit I already have so I can habit stack or with an alarm on my phone will be helpful.
Rooted in Relationships
- Weekly date night with Teddy as well as cooking together when we’re home.
- Sitting down to eat at the table together without distractions. This is something I want to prioritize for all meals with others. Whether at home or out to eat, removing phones and TV and whatever else to focus on conversation will be important.
- Having regular standing dates with friends to catch up and grab coffee or dinner or just visit. While this is harder in pandemic times even just checking in regularly via technology can be helpful. Same with family – making plans in advance to get together increases chances of it happening.
- Doing one kind thing for someone else daily. This is already a box that’s in my daily planner by the creator so the intention is to name something to do for someone else daily. This is another way I plan to incorporate investing time in relationships.
- Planning a trip quarterly with Teddy to go somewhere. We absolutely love to travel together and laugh so much, so doing this every few months is good for us.
- Traveling with a friend somewhere this year somewhere fun. I loved my girls trip last year to Texas as well as my trips through PA, Vermont, and Montana with friends so I’d love to do it again.
- Host a dinner at my house. Non fancy, but a time to open my home and enjoy food and laughter with friends and family.
Rooted in Rhythms
- Consistent morning routine. When I have a great routine and get up early I feel like a 5/5 every morning. When I don’t, which has been the last few months I’m a 3 or 4/5 in the mornings and that’s just not my best self. I’m not saying I will get up super early every day, but about 2 hours before work starts is my sweet spot. Then I have time for a workout, breakfast, reading, devotional, and a Bible study. And to let the pup out and feed her.
- Make and eat meals that fuel me. I am much better feeling when I eat vegetables. I try to hide them in my shakes in the morning. So when I don’t have a shake, I often have much less veggies. This is also the making 4 meals a week thing so I can save money but also know what I’m consuming.
- Weekly Sabbath. I’ve done this pretty consistently but want it to be a true non negotiable this year. 24 hours of delight and worship.
- Weekly date night. I mentioned this above already but the fact I can have the same rhythm to focus on relationships and habits is a win.
- Weekly planning. This means meals, schedules, workouts, whatever needs planned. More decisions up front means less decision fatigue later.
- Quarterly trip. Also mentioned above, but is a rhythm I have found to be so good for me, and even better when Teddy and I can travel together.
- Journaling. I usually do in the am but my new journal is Pm too so working that into my evening routine.
- Making a recipe a week from my mom/grandmas recipe box. It’s a fun way to connect with them but also to share their recipes with others.
- Writing each week. specifically for my blog. Toward the second half of the year, working up to writing daily.
Rooted in Legacy
- Read 1 chapter from a book daily. When I think about legacy, it’s the things you do every day that make you who you are and who others remember you to be. I am a reader and learner. I want part of my legacy to be to inspire others to read on their own to learn and also to read to their kids and instill a joy of learning in them.
- This goes with one above again, but working up to writing daily. I think it’s selfish for me to keep all the things I’m learning and resources I love to myself. So finding ways to share my learning with you all is moving toward legacy. I want people to share their knowledge with others in whatever format works for them. Mine happens to be through writing and conversation.
- Planting a garden. This one may seem odd but growing up we always had a garden and I loved picking asparagus and my grandma helping make it into cream of asparagus on toast. (I was a weird kid, I know.) The waiting of gardening is such a great lesson as is the lesson of seasons. So while I’m exited to have a garden again for food, I also want to do it as a reminder to myself of the seasons and God in those seasons. That there’s a time for planning (winter), sewing (spring), cultivating (summer) and harvest (fall) and you cannot rush a season. I want part of my legacy to be remind others and show them how we live seasonally. That for everything there is a season. Both in the garden and in our lives. We can’t have harvest all the time. Each season has a purpose.
- The Contentment Challenge from Nancy Ray is a 90 day no spending on non essentials. I’m doing this during Q1 of this year. I did this before and it was so good for me. I’m doing it alongside my Bible in 90 days reading to remind myself of my contentment in Jesus rather than things. I want to live a life that’s content in Christ and what he’s provided rather than the things money can buy.
I have a few other goals like books I’ll be reading on specific topics during the year as well as some other rhythms or investments into relationships or faith but I will go into those on other posts. For now, these are my 4 major goals for the year and they’re all centered around being Rooted in Christ. I’ll share updates on how these are going periodically throughout the year.
